Beast
by Ikustioa
Summary: A modern take on an old French fairy tale: Kagome's dad repays some supernatural hospitality the wrong way, and...you know the rest. Or do you?
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or any of Rumiko Takahashi's characters. The only one here I made up is Yoshio, and he's a bit player and I don't want him. ;; Rub it in, why don't you?

A/N: Wow, this is weird. First-ever fanfic to be put on the 'Net, and first Inu-Yasha one. ahem Hi, everyone! Well, this idea's been done by at least 19 other people according to my summary search, but this story's more of a warmup for me than anything...I have a few more original plotbunnies careening around my brain at the moment. We'll just see. (Not that I'm putting no effort into this. On the contrary, I was up all night getting it out of my brain. :D) Now, on with the chapter, which just sets things up, so please be patient:

**Beast**

**Chapter 1**

There's nothing quite like having a crappy song stuck in your head to make a bad day worse.

_Dee dee deeeee dee dumm doooo dooooooo dee dee deeeee dee dumm doooo dooooooo dee dee deeeee dee dumm doooo doooooooSTOP THAT!_

Her mind obediently shut up, then circled happily back to a subject the song had evicted moments ago. _Birthday today. You're 15. Your brothers and sisters are going to shower you with presents, and your dad will give a big speech about how much he loves you...and then your sisters are gonna hide your presents and not give 'em back till you let them have half the makeup they gave you...and you'll have to buy them ice cream tomorrow...and you don't wear makeup, with brown eyes you don't even bother and they know it...but hey, if you're lucky, Souta will have caught you another worm! Your very own pet! Again! And don't forget you're 15! Only 4 years ago now that_

And Kagome squeezed her eyes shut and began to hum, loudly, tugging a loose ebony strand near her ear in rhythm. She didn't know the name of the tune, but it was annoying, repetitive and perfect till she could get home and let Akemi and Nabiki take over.

"Kagome!" She rolled her eyes as quickly as possible, then plastered a nice smile on and turned to meet her friends as they jogged towards her. "Hey, happy birthday!" Eri squealed, too busy clapping and hopping on one foot to notice Kagome's eye twitching.

"Yeah, I hope your sisters let you keep your presents this time," Yuka added.

Kagome didn't bother hiding a second, bigger twitch, and her friends laughed and patted her back in supposed understanding. "Yeah, they're tough. Just get your little brother to hide your stuff this time, like I said last year!"

Kagome nodded, setting off with a wave and a valiant promise to try to keep her presents out of her loving family's clutches, waiting till she was around the corner to siiiigh and slouch over. It was bad enough that it was her birthday...did everyone have to drag it around and talk about presents on top of that?

"Higurashi!"

_Noooo no no no no no no no_ "Hi, Houjou-kun." The plaster in her smile was a bit cracked this time, but the boy riding towards her was far too dense to notice. Kagome sometimes wondered if she should try wearing clown makeup to fake a smile and give her facial muscles a break....Well, she did wonder today, anyway. Her mind always went out into left field on her birthday-it was a defense mechanism, she supposed, and it was kind of fun while it lasted as long as she kept it under wraps. The fact that she hadn't slept last night likely wasn't helping. Yes, Houjou was plenty nice and cute and so on, but he was like a...how to describe it?...A booger, maybe? No, that didn't quite fit...

Kagome caught herself sighing and easily turned it into a yawn. Yeesh. She was losing it. The guy really wasn't that bad.

"So it's your birthday today, Higurashi? Get any good presents yet?" Houjou swung one leg over his bike and gave her his best grin, blissfully unaware that her eye was twitching nonstop now in rhythm to her silent chant of _not that bad not that bad not that bad_ to keep from yelling at him. "Here." He pulled out a small package elaborately wrapped in pink and yellow cellophane. "It's a heat compress for your shoulders. You seem kinda tense lately."

Kagome strangled the impulse to ask him why he would buy something so nicely wrapped and then tell her what it was before she could even touch it, and opted to smile again. "Why, thank you. I'm sure it'll be good for helping me stress." She coughed. "Helping me _with_ stress."

Houjou only grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Aw, it was nothing, Higurashi. Say, I know it's your birthday and all, but do you want to go to-"

"I can't do anything today...or till the weekend, Houjou-kun. Lots of celebrations with my family," Kagome said quickly, ducking around the bike and smiling. _Back off slooowly...sloooowly now...  
_  
"But today's Monday," Houjou objected. "Maybe tom-"

"Birthday, Houjou-kun! G'bye!" And she was off down the street for dear life, praying neither of her sisters would catch on that she _wanted_ to go out for ice cream with them for once, coerced into paying or not...anything to escape Houjou. _Two years now of presents and turn-downs. You'd think the guy would get a clue. But nooooo...hmmm...boogers don't live that long...now if only he really was a STOP THAT!_

But Houjou was the least of her worries, as she soon discovered.

"I'm ho..." Kagome bit her words off as she looked up in the act of removing her shoes and found all five of her siblings, most of the house staff and her dad all gathered around the Western-style table in the front dining room.

All of them stared at her, faces grim, then turned back to Yoshio Higurashi, who looked ready to faint. "Sit down, kiddo," Akemi said abruptly, and her gruff, almost kind tone scared Kagome worse than any conniving she'd ever heard. A cold, sick feeling began pooling in her stomach and curling around her spine as she sank into a chair next to Souta. He promptly grabbed her hand with both of his and scooted closer.

_He's being scared in front of everyone?_ Kagome didn't know what was worse, Akemi being nice or this. All she knew was that something was badly wrong, just like

_No! Don't think about that. Listen to Dad, moron, he's talking now!_

"Kagome," he said gravely, passing his hand over his face in an attempt to stay calm, made all the more pathetic by a tiny smear of soy sauce that his repeated gestures had smooched all over his cheek and forehead. "I was just telling everyone that I...that, is w-we th-think we m-might be...er..."

"We're broke, Kag," Nabiki said bluntly. "Daddy blew all our money on some old land in the middle of nowhere for no reason."

"Isn't there some way you can fix this? Sell it back or something?" Yusaku demanded as Kagome's jaw fell open, mind working to process the new information. She scooped Souta onto her lap, almost wishing for his usual protests about being eight years old and too big for this as he silently buried his face in her shoulder.

"This was a sound financial investment according to several trusted sources," Yoshio argued, but with an air of resignation and fear that said he had no other defense. He sighed. "How was I supposed to know the woods were home to some kind of endangered species and development's been restricted?"

Kagome's mind was slowly beginning to clear. Her father worked with three other businessmen in more of a loose alliance than a company, buying and selling real estate and sometimes acting as middlemen on commission. All four had been extremely lucky, arriving in Tokyo just in time for an upswing in the economy. As expensive as land was in Japan and especially in and near the capitol, they had managed to pool their money and acquire outlying property just as several international companies moved into the area and expressed interest in building on it. Ever since she was old enough to understand it, Kagome had always been wary of her father's business: it was too risky and he was too naïve and impulsive to have survived on more than luck for this long. _Knew we'd get screwed sooner or later, but..._

"That means you can't build on it?" Ataru looked as if he were just beginning to grasp the situation. "But if no one can build on it and you spent all our money, what's gonna happen to the house and everything? How're we gonna eat?!"

"You bought a piece of land without checking for environmental protection or developing ordinances?" Having found her voice, Kagome glared at her father, who hung his head in abject acceptance of his own stupidity.

"It didn't seem like a bad idea at the time," he told the floor lamely. "There's an abandoned old castle deep in the woods near it, too, and a few big companies were interested in clearing the place out for a summer resort. Not many people in that area. There was a lot of speculation and the price was starting to go up, so my partners told me I should take the gamble."

It took all of her willpower not to grab the nearest porcelain dish and chunk it right at him. "You used _our_ money and not any of theirs?! If it was such a smart move, they wouldn't have made _you_ do it! What in the hell were you thinking?!"

Akemi cackled and clapped, while Nabiki regarded Kagome with surprise and her brothers wisely kept quiet.

Yoshio's head snapped up. "Don't you dare speak to me that way, young lady! I moved fast because I didn't know that that area became a squirrel preserve about five hours before I signed the papers, and if I'd been able to read government minds, I wouldn't have done it!"

"Squirrels?"

Souta's whisper was lost in Kagome's sudden growl. "You _always_ do this, Dad! First that porn shop in Kyoto-" She belatedly clapped her hands over her brother's ears and ignored Yoshio's protests that it was a respectable manga chain. "Then that stupid plot to buy roach motels in Hokkaido and sell them as time shares...you got lucky the first time and _we_ got lucky you were too drunk to go to the meeting the second time! And now you've lost everything because of a bunch of effing _squirrels?!_ Why do you have to do this kind of thing, Dad? If M-"

Silence descended. No one in the room breathed for the count of five. Then Kagome swallowed hard and bowed her head, whispering an apology.

Yoshio took a deep breath and let it out. The tension in the room eased, but only slightly. "I'm sorry," he said quietly to the housekeeper, cooks and maids standing off to the side. "You'll have to find work elsewhere. You can leave tonight. I'll have my secretary type up references for you in the morning."

"You don't have one anymore, remember?" Akemi pointed out carelessly, lighting a cigarette to restore the last of her nerves.

Kagome shot her sister a Look. "I'll do it, Dad. We'd better eat dinner first, and you can tell us what we'll be doing next."

Once dinner was served, possibly for the last time, Yoshio recovered enough to assure them that they would not starve. The protests were long and loud when their father revealed his master plan to keep them off the streets: "I know just the place. It's a cozy little shrine in the countryside on that land I bought."

From Nabiki as she deftly knocked Ataru's chopsticks away from the biggest octopus ball on the table: "A shrine?! Do those places even have electricity? Or toilets?"

Akemi, picking at her food: "In the country? Dad, do you know how many men are gonna drive out to the middle of nowhere and back with all these kids around? What am I supposed to do?"

Yusaku, busy slurping noodles, also wanted to know how he was supposed to pay for college now, much less commute or live in a dorm; he had managed to get into a fairly prestigious school thanks to their father's success, and his grades were not sufficient for any kind of scholarship. Even if he were to get a job, the tuition would be too much for him to handle on his own.

Ataru was more of his sisters' frame of mind now, wondering aloud how he was supposed to get any girls to come out to a crappy little shack in the middle of the woods with six other people in it. Nabiki and Akemi were more than happy to point out that the way he was slopping his soup everywhere, he'd never get any girls near him anyway, so no big loss.

Souta merely listened and looked up at Kagome fearfully. She swallowed once, twice, then spoke up. "Why can't your partners help us? They're the ones who got you into this mess."

Yoshio gulped. "They've said...they just won't. Six children, school tuition and college...it's more than they could help us with."

"So the answer is that they're all irresponsible scumbags," Nabiki said thoughtfully. Yoshio coughed and turned his attention back to his dinner.

More grumbling about their father's partners and why he couldn't just sue the bastards ensued. Yoshio was explaining that he had no proof that they'd had any part in his purchase when Kagome spoke up again. "Dad?"

Her siblings paused to look at her. Kagome's face was eerily calm-too calm. "What about school?"

Yoshio was sweating bullets by this point, but took several bites to buy time before answering. "Souta is the only one legally required to attend school anymore, so I'll be tutoring him till he can pass the appropriate-"

"Tutor him in what, real estate?" Nabiki muttered, getting up from the table.

"What was that?" Yoshio demanded.

"Well, you did screw everything up, Dad," Akemi snapped. "Make Kagome teach him. She's the egghead."

"Nah, she'll be doing the housework. We won't have anyone there to pick up after us, remember?" Nabiki pointed out.

"Oh, yeah." A moment later, Akemi easily ducked the shoe Kagome sent flying at her head, and Nabiki also dropped to the floor with practiced ease as the other loafer sailed over her.

"What about me?" Yusaku asked again, and Kagome felt rather sorry for him. After all, he was the only one in the family who was in college, and if he wasn't a terrific student, he still tried. Akemi had never even pretended an interest in more than chasing men from the safety of their huge home, and Ataru was too busy mourning his love life now to think about his high school career. Heaven only knew if Nabiki cared.

But as she moved back to her seat and listened to Dad explain that Yusaku had the option of possibly finding a job and a small apartment somewhere-"At this time of year?!"-it also occurred to her that if she didn't go to high school, her chances of eventually getting into college were shot, and without college she had no hope of getting a career anywhere.

Yoshio had evidently thought of this, too. He moved closer to her after the meal had been cleaned up and said in an undertone, "You know, there are plenty of lovely offices in Tokyo that offer entry-level positions for-"

"For women with degrees who're just marking time till they get married," Kagome interrupted coldly. "Isn't there anywhere at all near there I can commute to?"

He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "No, honey, there are no schools within forty kilometers of the place. I wouldn't be able to pay tuition or drive you anyway."

And that was that.

The family's initial hopes that one of their many friends would offer to provide them some help soon died as said friends melted into the woodwork after sending their sympathies and not much else. Yuka and Eri were properly mournful that Kagome would be leaving so soon (her father's former prestige and Kagome's excellent grades had proven sufficient to allow her to take her final exams early, rather than her having to drop out-a small blessing, but one she was glad enough to have), but any hint that Kagome might stay with one of them till she was through with high school was not forthcoming. She really hadn't expected it, but that hadn't made saying goodbye and heading back to the rusty import they'd bought after selling both the family cars any easier.

And much as she would've liked to dismiss her sisters' banter about housework as teasing, Kagome knew they were dead serious: getting them to pick up after themselves would be like teaching drunken monkeys to read, except that monkeys would be better students. It was such a complete waste of time to try to bully, plead, force, threaten or otherwise persuade those two to help clean the little shrine that she gave up after Nabiki's third "suggestion" that money would be excellent motivation for them to pitch in. A little cooking was all she could get out of them despite her best nagging efforts, and her father was too worn down from constant sniping about their fall in fortunes to help.

The boys were a little better; even Souta started cleaning up his own messes and learning to do laundry by the second or third week they spent in the shrine, which proved to be tiny, cramped and provided with only the most rudimentary electric wiring. Most of this was used by Nabiki's 13" TV, which did not have cable but did provide an astonishing array of generic soap operas.

But once they arrived at the shrine, Kagome was much too busy to mope about anything. Yusaku spoke with his advisers and wrangled an agreement to postpone his education for a few years and found a friend willing to rent him a room while he worked full-time to help support the family. Ataru's complaints soon ceased under the weight of Kagome's glares, not to mention all the repairs that needed to be made around the place. And Souta's initial upset over leaving his friends and school behind soon subsided upon his discovery that, even outside the lessons his dad and Kagome gave him daily, there was a _lot_ to do in the woods.

"I'm bored," he whined the second day after they arrived. It had taken pathetically little time to unload the battered family car and unpack what few possessions they hadn't had to sell to pay various people and credit card companies off.

"Then go play," Kagome said absently, intent on mixing detergent for a vat full of shirts and shorts.

"I don't wanna go by myself," he whined. "Come in the woods with me and make sure there's nothing bad in it."

She was about to snap back at him when her hand suddenly twitched violently and spilled detergent all over the grass. _Damn sleep deprivation..._ Kagome sighed and shrugged in defeat, then left a note for their father inside and steered Souta out into the woods.

It was only a few hours after they set off, and Souta had already spotted at least 17 trees suitable for building a fort. Kagome had only agreed absently because a creepy feeling had, well, crept up on her as they walked through the old woods. It was peaceful and quiet, but as Souta shouted and ran into a little clearing ahead, Kagome's skin began prickling. It grew stronger as she followed him and saw that he was already halfway up the trunk of a massive tree.

"Get down here!" she yelled, rubbing vainly at her now-crawling skin and stepping uneasily up the gentle slope formed under the snaking roots. Her ankle caught on one, and she went down heavily. "Dammit," she grumbled, getting to her feet carefully and reaching out to steady herself against the trunk.

White blanked her vision for a moment, and an image of _something_ flickered across it before the trunk came back into focus. Kagome stood stock-still, highly unnerved, then placed the other hand on the tree to push herself off.

White again, but the brief flash of color - red? - that accompanied it also had feeling attached: anger, regret and a heavy sorrow that brought tears to her eyes. Kagome wrenched her hands from the bark and stumbled backwards, gasping for air as she scrambled away.

"What's eating you, Sis?" Souta demanded from near the top of the tree. "Isn't this great? Look, I can see above the other trees! There's that weird castle over there!"

Kagome shut her eyes and rubbed them, suddenly too tired to follow as he jabbed a finger at his new discovery. "That's great, Souta. C'mon down, we've gotta go home now."

She told none of her family about the little incident, not wishing to be ridiculed for weeks or to have to explain that she wasn't sick. Now that he didn't have anything to do except teach Souta every once in a while, Yoshio had developed a few odd notions, one of them paranoia of Kagome falling deathly ill. It was just a little annoying, to say the least.

Odd notions or not, their father eventually adjusted to the forced inactivity and closeness with his children. This wasn't as much of a blessing as it could've been without his older daughters' aptitude for smart remarks, but all in all, the family settled in and learned to survive quite nicely, Kagome thought. Regular money from Yusaku, who'd managed to find a decent job from a new friend, and occasional trips out to a nearby village ensured no one went insane or hungry, and even Nabiki and Akemi adjusted to their lack of credit cards...after a while.

And thus the time passed. Even with the lack of presents (or partly because of it), her 16th and then 17th birthdays passed with much more calm than their predecessors. Kagome was able to sleep soundly, if not happily, in the knowledge that not much else could go wrong, and her sisters would only give her things they had long since lost interest in; even Souta managed to find a baby bird and then a lost cat in the woods for each birthday instead of something that crawled.

Still, it wasn't an ideal life by any means, and the shrine wasn't terribly comfortable in the winter. After one of Yusaku's Christmas presents turned out to be a set of space heaters, they discovered that the only thing worse than a lack of central heating was a complete, overload-induced lack of electricity, and after much conferring, whining and bargaining, it was agreed that each member of the family would give up a meal a day for a few months so Yusaku could buy a small, cheap generator in case of emergencies. The generator coughed, sputtered and smelled funny, but it was definitely worth it, as they all agreed the third time the lights went out.

Kagome woke up one morning three days before her 18th birthday in a cold sweat. Despite the early spring coolness outside, she felt more break out as she stared at the ceiling, barely aware of Akemi's teeth grinding or Nabiki snorting in her sleep across the tiny room. _No, no, no, it's too early, not now, no  
_  
**"YES!"** Their father's bellow shook the thin wooden walls, and her sisters jerked awake with muttered curses, wondering who was dead now and taking no notice of Kagome's sweat-streaked white face as she shakily got up.

Yoshio was holding his cell phone (he had kept it "for emergencies" and rarely used it, but more out of possessiveness than thrift) and doing some kind of war dance out in the yard as his children yawned their way outside. "It's not even 7 a.m., Daddy," Nabiki groused, sitting down on a newly repaired step with an irate yawn. "What's wrong now?"

"Someone wants to buy us!" he shouted, pumping the cell phone up and out like a tiny plastic pompom.

"Buy us?" Ataru repeated with some interest. "Is it a girl?"

"No, no, son! A wonderful company is going to lease the land we're on, turn the castle into a hotel and make us all filthy rich!" Yoshio grabbed Souta's hands and started dancing him around in circles.

"You mean, we're not gonna have to live here anymore?" Nabiki said slowly, and Akemi whooped right in Kagome's ear, jerking her out of her trance.

"What about the squirrels, Dad?" Kagome asked, backing out of harm's way as Souta was swung clear off the ground for a few seconds. Yusaku, who was visiting and had just come out of his futon in the kitchen space, followed suit, eyeing their father warily.

"Plenty of the little nutcases to go around," Yoshio said cheerfully, setting his youngest down with a thump. "Nutcases, get it?" Kagome managed a weak smile and sat down on the steps next to Nabiki, who was grinning and clearly plotting what her first purchases on returning to Tokyo would be.

Yoshio's jubilation subsided just enough for him to explain himself over breakfast, and Kagome was too uneasy to comment despite the good news. One of his partners had just called-he held his hand up to silence their protests. This partner's son-in-law had worked on the research team that'd provided the statistics that proved the squirrels were endangered in the first place, and a new report showed that the population had rebounded nicely. Now that the squirrels were somewhat safe, the land could be leased to make use of existing property (the castle) while they waited for permission to clear the rest of it for more development.

Now that this information had been ascertained, the partner's other son-in- law, another real estate broker, had been dispatched to "accidentally" leak the news to potential buyers, and had done his job so well that the worthless land had become one of the most sought-after spots in the Tokyo area. Untouched castles in undisturbed forests that were still relatively close to major cities weren't easy to find anymore, and this castle had the added bonus of supposedly being haunted. Such places were often more valuable and could charge more for ghost hunters and thrill-seekers than a regular hotel could for regular guests, even rich ones. In short, the Higurashi family was now in possession of a gold mine.

The prospect of regaining their former wealth galvanized Nabiki and Akemi the way nothing had since they'd moved to the shrine. Even as Kagome tried to digest the information, Nabiki decided that their father must leave that very morning to close the deal as quickly as possible, and Akemi dispatched Souta to run Daddy a bath while she picked out something respectable for him to wear and Ataru washed and polished the car. Yusaku, who had said nothing since waking up, just shook his head and went back upstairs for a brief nap.

In record time their father was standing out in the yard next to the feebly glimmering family Bug. "Now," he said briskly, surveying each child with mock solemnity. "I'll have a few hours before I have my first meeting, and I want to get something for each of you-" His hand was already up to signal silence before the word 'want' was out, and the expected outburst promptly died. "First, Akemi. What would you like?"

"Anything, Daddy?" she breathed, eyes glimmering and hands clasped.

"Of course, dear." He smiled expansively, only wavering slightly when she pulled out a sheet of paper with tiny scribbles all over it. "What's that?"

"Those are the latest Versace gowns I saw on TV, Daddy, and my measurements and the colors and styles I want," she said happily. "Oh, thank you!"

"Of course." He carefully folded it and stuck it into his wallet. "What about you, Yusaku?"

"I'd like a laptop, Dad, with a battery...help with school when I go back," Yusaku added, and Yoshio chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder.

"I want a DVD player," Ataru said without preamble, and Nabiki punched him in the back of the head.

"Owww! What was that for?" he demanded.

"He was going in age order, dipwad," she retorted, then smiled at Yoshio. "I'd like a new TV, Daddy, the biggest one you can carry without hurting yourself too much."

"Coming right up! And a DVD player for you, Ataru?" Ataru nodded sulkily.

"If Nabiki's getting a TV, can I have a PlayStation and that one old DDR game you said I could have when I turned ten?" Souta demanded, tugging on his father's sleeve.

"Of course, Souta, and one of those mat things to go with it." Souta grinned from ear to ear, and Yoshio turned to Kagome, ignoring Ataru's demands of why Nabiki didn't smack _him_ for going out of order. "What would you like, honey?"

"I really don't want anything," Kagome said honestly. "I'll get to go to school again, right?" He nodded. "Then that's fine. No present for me."

Nabiki made a loud noise that sounded suspiciously like obnoxious kissing and then patted her rear suggestively. Akemi grunted, rolled her eyes and glared at her sister as she took out a cigarette. "Good God, Kag, you're such a martyr. You're not gonna get anything better by holding out. You might as well just say something you want now and quit wasting our time."

Kagome glared back. Akemi knew how much she hated smoking and how afraid she was of any kind of unnecessary fire in or near the shrine. "I'm not holding out for anything. Not all of us think we're gonna die if we don't get something expensive."

Nabiki snorted and scratched her head with only one finger, making sure Kagome saw which one. Kagome stuck her tongue out, but stopped as Yoshio frowned at her.

"Hey, what are you trying to imply?" Ataru demanded, and even Souta looked miffed.

"They're right, Kagome," their father said coaxingly. "It's so close to your birthday, too." Kagome's hands clenched into fists. "Don't be afraid to ask for something. You deserve it more than anyone else after all you've done for the family."

_Great_. Akemi and Nabiki were making quiet retching noises and Souta was fidgeting with impatience. Yusaku met her pleading look with a helpless shrug, and Ataru wasn't going to help, either.

Her mind wandered frantically, trying to pin down something, anything she wanted. But if she was going to be able to take the exams for high school, even if she'd be the only 18-year-old in her class, she'd have a future again, and no cleaning to do; she'd make new friends, and maybe even a boyfriend. The thought cheered her up so much that she opened her mouth to insist that there was nothing in the world she could've asked for...and shut it under Akemi's glare. No way was she going to get away with that now-she'd have her shoes stolen, jam in her hairbrush, toothbrush in the toilet and all sorts of nasty things in her bed for weeks after this if she still didn't ask for anything.

In desperation she glanced around the shrine. Her eyes fell on a stretch of ground she'd just finished weeding yesterday on one side of the steps. "Could I have a flower, Dad?"

"A flower?" he repeated blankly.

"Yeah, Dad, any kind of flower we don't have here. Maybe a rose or something I could transplant to the new house." There. That would do it.

A loud "Pfffffft" behind her said otherwise. "A _flower_, Kag? That's the lamest thing I've ever heard," Akemi said flatly.

"Friggin' suck-up," Nabiki muttered, heading back into the shrine. "Call if you're gonna be late, Daddy, okay?"

Yoshio was walking on air...or at least he would've been minus the 48" TV box he staggered under as he made his way to the car. He'd made it to Tokyo in record time and met up with his partners at a bar despite the early hour; upon hearing of his mission, one had handed him his credit card and bade him hit the stores right then with all the generosity of a wealthy drunk. Yoshio had been all too happy to comply, and now the little Bug was crammed with plastic-sheathed designer dresses, electronics and...he frowned, knees buckling as he lowered the passenger seat and eased the box in. No flowers yet. He probably could just grab a cheap one from a department store...but this was his Kagome! And it was almost her 18th birthday! With a self- righteous huff he headed downtown for the meeting, promising himself one more trip to the store before heading back to his adoring family.

Precisely fifty minutes later, he walked out of the mirror-paneled, imposing building and looked around for someplace that provided liquor. He marched into the nearest bar, plopped down on a stool, and handed the barkeep the credit card and an order for as many beers as he could drink and still stay upright.

Two beers later, his eyes grew misty and his lips quirked into a smile...two more beers, and he was grinning like a madman...two more sips, and his head thumped onto the counter with a sharp _thunk_.

"Whass'matta, bud?" an American businessman nearby inquired in English, leering in a comradely fashion and attempting to place a hand on his shoulder. Neither man noticed how badly it missed as Yoshio began to sniffle.

**"Ilostallmyfamily'smoneytosquirrelsandnowthey'reallgon nahatemeevenmoooore!"** he wailed on a single breath.

The American's face creased into a sympathetic, red-mottled grimace. He patted Yoshio sincerely and asked why squirrels took his family's money.

The story came out, though not as coherent as what had actually happened: Yoshio had gone to the meeting full of hope, only to find that his partners were mysteriously absent. After five minutes of awkward chitchat, a discreet call had revealed that none of the partners were to be found, and another, more open call to the room soon after revealed that they were not coming. It seemed the son-in-law partner had failed to mention that he had yet another married daughter, whose husband worked for a large local paper. The paper had caught wind of the castle's fate as a hotel and raised a stink about it; then it caught wind of a rumor that a strip club in Tokyo was maybe thinking of perhaps moving near it to escape city taxes once development was OKed, and the public outcry it elicited by the time news arrived from Son-In-Law #1 that the squirrel population not only was not recovering, but seemed to be suffering predation or disease, was sufficient to scare off any potential leasers for miles. Yoshio knew his partners would be very sorry that they'd failed to pass along the inside information once more, so sorry, in fact, that they'd even apologize for asking him to repay the credit card that...he...

And Yoshio suddenly cackled and slapped the bar in delight, and the American stopped patting and asked what the matter was. Yoshio said that nothing was the matter, except that he'd never given his partners his address and they assumed he was living with relatives, as Yoshio had been too ashamed to admit to the world that they were living in an old shrine. Wouldn't it be a shame if he 'forgot' to return the credit card, left the receipts on his partner's doorstep to prove that it hadn't been stolen, and went back home with all the souvenirs?

This idea was so irresistibly clever and underhanded that the two men's congratulations did not stop for a solid half-hour, during which the drinks kept coming and other patrons chose to ignore them or get up quietly and leave rather than ask why the American kept patting Yoshio on the butt.

Soon the bar closed and Yoshio and his new friend parted ways. Yoshio waved unsteadily over his shoulder and staggered over to his car, trying to get the door open...but the TV was on his seat. He blinked, then remembered this was an American car, and he cursed the Western Hemisphere thoroughly as he circled around and got in. Thoughts of his American buddy warmed his heart back up, though, and he began to hum "God Save the Queen" in tribute as he started the car up.

The receipts were swiftly and silently delivered, save for a bit of slight noise he made by stumbling into a trash can and upsetting two large cats. Then it was back to his car, back to cursing and circling around to his own seat, back to humming "Barbie Girl" as he started the car and backed into the fence, crushing the expensive worked iron before shifting and pointing the car back out onto the road and towards home.

Or so he thought...the road didn't seem prepared to stay straight, and he defiantly refused to follow its wavering as it began to snow lightly. This was odd...but the snow was nothing compared to the road. After about an hour he vaguely remembered something about turning and home, but a sudden, violent wave of nausea clouded his already vaporous brain, and he drove on aimlessly, concentrating on _No pukey no pukey no pukey no oh hell I need to stop_ and then slammed on the brakes.

It wasn't until he raised his head, shuffled away from the bushes he'd just defiled and noticed how cold and wet everything was that he saw that he was in the woods, and an unfamiliar part of it, too. Snow had started to pile up a few inches thick and was filtering in rapidly through the trees overhead, which formed a much thinner canopy than the ones near the shrine. He took one look at the car, decided that it was much too heavy to carry, and set off bravely in search of a way to get the ground to stop moving. Him not moving was really nice, too, but the snow was cold.

A few minutes later, without the light from his headlights to guide him, Yoshio decided that it was also really, really dark as well as cold. This meant he had no clue where he was going, but if he stopped, the snow would eat him. And it'd be cold.

But his legs, already stiff and jerky from too much sitting and alcohol, were beginning to give out, and try as he might, pleading and even offering to pay them if they'd just keep working, he was starting to stumble a lot, and it hurt more to get up each time. He was too occupied with his newfound disability to notice something watching him from nearby, or a gentle whisper of movement in the undergrowth to the side and then ahead of him.

Soon Yoshio was in serious trouble. The snow was coming down faster than ever, and his legs had firmly rebelled against the nicest arguments he could offer. He sat down in the snow, noting unhappily that it was very very cold, and his head sank to his chest. The shivering that'd assailed him not long ago was gone, replaced by a kind of numbness...except for his butt. That was cold. And wet.

_I don't wanna die with a wet b.........what's that?  
_  
He squinted against the icy flakes battering his eyes. Yes, it was definitely some kind of light ahead. _Light means stuff. Stuff means fire. Fire means warm and no wet!_ His legs agreed, and he found himself back on his feet and stumbling towards the wavering pinpoint with newfound zeal.

Ten painful and soggy minutes and only about thirty yards later, Yoshio stumbled straight into a crude wooden wall and sat down abruptly. Within seconds his eyes unfogged enough to determine that there was flickering orange light coming from its side, i.e. a door, which made this big thing some kind of crude hut. He crawled around to the side and saw a tiny room with a small fire in the middle, not to mention a large futon laid out neatly to the side.

His mind was not up to questioning the presence of warmth and bed in the middle of nowhere. It was only sufficient to unfold the straw mat covering the doorway, crawl into the futon and fall into a deep, uneasy sleep.

A pounding headache and the wind on his face woke Yoshio up sometime in the afternoon. When he sat up, he immediately sank back into the futon's dry warmth, groaning and trying to work moisture back into his mouth. _Why am I hung over? Kagome never lets me get...wait, where am I?  
_  
The previous night's events came rushing back, and he groaned again, this time with feeling. He had failed to get the land sold, he had gotten drunk, he had let an American...yeah...and then he'd dumped the receipts for all those expensive souvenirs right on his partner's doorstep, not returned the credit card, and then drove off when he was so drunk he could hardly see straight! He could've killed someone!

Another gentle gust of cold air interrupted his self-recrimination, and he opened his eyes to see...the sky?

He sat up carefully and looked around. He was still wrapped securely in the futon's blankets, but there was nothing around him but snow. The hut and its fire had disappeared.

Blink. Blink. Well, that was something. Maybe he was still drunk...? No, he was too hung over to be drunk. That made sense, if nothing else did. Yoshio twisted around and looked behind him. The sky was clear and the sun was out, but it was still snowing gently and the piles were getting higher. Had he been more coherent, he would've noticed that the snow on his futon was melting instantly, but without soaking the fabric.

He twisted a little further and spotted a distant smear of darkness on the horizon. Vaguely he remembered that his car was God knew where, and in this snow, he wasn't going to be able to drive anywhere any time soon. Maybe that smear was the castle he'd heard so much about?

A soft, short whistle near his elbow jerked his head around, and he groaned and massaged his temple. When he reopened his eyes, they bulged: a line of kanji and hiragana was being scratched into the snow when he was the only person in the vicinity. Slowly he watched in absolute disbelief, and when it was done he slowly read aloud: "Please fear not, good sir, and follow to the castle where my lord has prepared a place."

Odd.

But there was no time to wonder: the cold was starting to seep through the futon's thick cover, and as he watched, a set of tiny footprints set off through the snow towards what he presumed to be the castle. It dimly occurred to him that they looked funny somehow, besides the fact that they were there in the first place, but his head hurt enough as it was and he abandoned trying to puzzle it out. After a dumbfounded moment or two he threw off the covers, then thought better of it and draped it over his shoulders as he staggered after the footprints.

For such a supposedly small whatever-the-hell-it-was, the prints' owner moved fast, and Yoshio had to pause for breath and to recover his hung-over self a few times. The prints always stopped to wait till he straightened back up, mumbled an apology and started walking once more.

Soon the castle became clearly visible even to Yoshio, who was sweating profusely and dragging the futon behind him in the snow. When they marched up the wide courtyard and drew near the great steps, the footprints stopped, and Yoshio watched as the kanji for "Welcome" drew itself before him.

"Thanks," he mumbled with an awkward bow, and proceeded to stumble up the steps, never noticing that something gently tugged the futon from his grasp as he trudged upward.

In the dim afternoon light and from several torches lit up along the walls, he could see a great entrance hall. Yoshio slipped off his business shoes, unconsciously wriggling his toes as he timidly walked through the entrance hall and into the grand court. "Hello?" he called, his voice sounding thin and lost.

No answer. He didn't know if he really wanted one, though. This place was kinda cursed and he had just been brought by here by a ghost or something, of course.

Cursed? Yoshio blinked. No, just haunted. Or had he heard about a curse somewhere?...One thing was for sure, though. His stomach was definitely growling.

Almost on cue, a strong smell of fish and miso drifted towards him, and he happily followed, walking through several rooms full of beautiful hangings, armor, and all sorts of museum-quality things in a hungry stupor. Soon he found himself in a little room with three braziers lit, providing warmth and enough light to see a small table groaning with food: fish and miso and dumplings and sake and tea and all sorts of things. His mouth watered, and he grabbed the chopsticks and began shoveling almost the second his knees touched the floor.

About halfway through, his stomach stopped screaming at him and Yoshio was able to look around with some appreciation, noting that the old place was wonderfully preserved despite its great age and reputation. Was someone living here? Or was it...? He looked down at the food and gulped, wondering if it would turn him into an oni or a ghost like in an old story...then shrugged and set about eating the rest. No point wasting it if he was already doomed.

His luck had not run out, though. As soon as he was finished, the opposite shoji slid open and revealed a steaming bath and a small area for cleaning himself. He gratefully partook, leaving his clothes in the little dining room and changing into a kimono someone (something?) had swapped for his clothes when he had toweled himself dry.

Yoshio wandered around the castle for several hours, marveling at the simple beauty of the smaller rooms and grandeur of what must've been the throne room and lord's bedchamber. Some of the more private rooms on the highest floor were locked, and he only tried them once more before getting a strong feeling that he'd better leave them be. As it was, he found that he'd barely explored half the castle before night fell again.

In 'his' room, the way to which he found lighted with fresh torches, Yoshio saw that dinner had been set out, along with his clothes, which were clean and dry but folded incorrectly. He smiled and gave thanks in case anything could hear him, but decided not to complain. He was lucky and superstitious, after all, not stupid.

He was also very tired. Once he'd eaten and laid his chopsticks down, another shoji slid open and he saw a futon prepared for him. With a last "Thank you very much" and a glance back at his dishes, Yoshio laid down and was soon fast asleep, feeling safer than he had in years.

Birds chirping outside woke Yoshio up the next morning, 10:38 according to his watch. He yawned and stretched, rubbing his eyes and muttering a morning greeting as the shoji slid open again to reveal breakfast. He was suddenly reminded of his cell phone and stumbled over to his clothes, then slid it out of his pants pocket. He flipped it open and cursed: he'd left it on all yesterday and that night, and its feeble beeping had gone unnoticed. The battery needed recharging, and the charger was in the car.

Well, all the more reason to be on his way soon. With only slight regret, which only deepened slightly more upon remembering all the explaining he had to do at home, Yoshio quickly ate breakfast, remarked aloud how good the food was again, thanked the empty air and changed into his own clothes. Then it was off through the confusing order of rooms and luckily into the entrance hall on his first try, down the steps and into the cold air.

Yoshio paused at the steps, turned around and bowed deeply, calling out his last thanks before setting off briskly and nearly slipping on a small ball of snow at the bottom. He hopped around to the side of the stairs to make sure he hadn't twisted his ankle...he hadn't, thank goodness, but the change in direction made him wonder if he was sure where he'd left his car....No, this was probably correct. In fact, if he circled around the back of the castle, he'd find it even quicker.

With this firmly in mind, Yoshio set off at a good pace, stepping gingerly through piles of mushy, melting snow and stopping dead when he rounded the second corner: there at the very back of the castle grounds, completely untouched by any snow and with air so much warmer than its surrounds that he could feel it from there, was a little garden.

Entranced, Yoshio came closer, then leaned in to feel the air and sighed blissfully. There was only one kind of flower, one he'd never seen or heard of; he'd never smelled it, either, as he knew he'd remember that light, sweet perfume if he ever smelled it again now. It grew in bushes about waist high, with waxy green leaves and thin but tough-looking stems. The buds were new and a beautiful lilac, striped thinly with black The few already in bloom were almost bell-shaped, but more graceful, and Yoshio had to wonder if any stores in Tokyo had any flowers even remotely like this.

_Flowers..._ Flowers! Kagome! Flowers! These were flowers! And she'd love them, too. Anyone would...even her sisters would like these. Yoshio smiled tolerantly at the thought and reached out to pluck a blossom. And failed.

_Dammit._ The stems were even tougher than they looked. Yoshio pulled harder, and harder, till the whole bush was shaking with his efforts. _Grrrr...fine!_ He reached lower, got a good hold right above the roots, and yanked as hard as he could.

With a triumphant grunt, he pulled a few flowers free of the bush, roots and all, and was congratulating himself when a voice thundered behind him. **"Just what in the** **_hells_** **do you think you are doing?"  
**  
Uh oh.

A/N: Long enough for ya? No idea how long the others'll be. Next chapter and all our other favorite characters (well, some of 'em, anyway) will be up in a day or two, maybe more if I actually get reviews. I'm easy like that. ;D smacks self for review-begging


	2. And It Begins

Disclaimer: I still own none of these characters save for Yoshio; this includes all of Kagome's siblings, who are indeed from Rumiko Takahashi series, and whom I've briefly swiped for my own tainted purposes here. Mwa ha ha ha ha. But they do belong to her.  
  
A/N: Hey, everyone. Thanks for the reviews, especially the constructive criticism; as a reward of sorts, now that we've gotten most of the setup out of our systems, we can move on to a bit more setup for the real story. :D Enjoy. 

* * *

**Beast  
  
Chapter 2  
**

****

**"Just what in the _hells_ do you think you are doing?"  
**  
Uh oh.  
  
That was the only thought Yoshio's brain could muster as he swallowed hard, willed his body to unfreeze and slowly shuffled around, still on his knees and with dirt crumbling gently from the roots clutched in one trembling hand.  
  
Bare feet – in this cold? – and red-clad legs met his eyes, and despite the sickening terror gripping his midsection, Yoshio reflexively straightened, looked into the newcomer's face...and nearly wet himself.  
  
_Dear gods and heavens and hells..._That wasn't any kind of face: it was a nightmare. The creature was shaped like a human, dressed in what looked like feudal-style red shrine clothes of loose, long-sleeved haori and pants that were like hakama but gathered close at the ankles. But the emerging sun glistened eerily on the creature's long silver-white hair, framing hellish blood-red eyes with blue pupils. Two triangular canine ears jutted from atop the thing's head, and as he gaped, the jagged purple stripes on its cheeks wrinkled back with its snarl, further exposing huge fangs that overlapped its lips in wicked points. It tapped its folded arms with claws long and sharp enough to tear a man's head off, glaring at him as if it were about to do just that.  
  
Tales of oni, youkai and all sorts of specters flitted rapidly through Yoshio's mind, and if not for the sudden cold wind on his face, he might've chalked the horrific vision up to a bad sake dream and prayed to wake up. As it was, the only thing that could and did make the nightmare complete and real was when the thing spoke again, a raspy snarl of barely controlled fury: "I never said you could rise!"  
  
Yoshio barely heard, as he'd already dropped the flowers, flung himself to the ground and pressed his forehead between his flattened hands in an instinctive grovel. "I b-b-beg your pardon, my l-l-lo—"  
  
"Nor did I give you leave to speak!"  
  
Yoshio shook like a leaf and tried to make himself smaller against the ground, then nearly lost it as the beast swooped down on him with unnatural speed and was holding the torn-out flowers a bare second later. "I send my servants to shelter you from the cold and lead you here. I prepare you food and hospitality fit for a lord, and permit you to stay two nights on my land. I send you on your way safely and ask _nothing_ in return, and you repay me by killing my mother's flowers!"  
  
"I d-didn't think, my l-l-lord!" Yoshio sputtered, not daring to raise his head or move any unnecessary muscles. As if he could with the way he was shaking; he swore he could feel the thing's bloodied eyes on him. "It was not f-f-f-for m-m-me, Lord. For my d-daughter."  
  
"I don't care if you wanted to give them to the Emperor, human," the beast hissed, flexing razor-sharp claws in a manner that Yoshio mercifully couldn't see. The crack of its knuckles was _very_ clear, though. "You've repaid my generosity with the worst possible insult, and I'd like to know any reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."  
  
"Please, Lord! My family!" Desperation overcoming paralysis, Yoshio struggled to his knees and dug at his pockets for his wallet as he babbled. "I went to Tokyo to get our money and each of my children asked for something nice, but Kagome only wanted a flower! I couldn't leave without getting one for her! See, look!" The beast watched in utter contempt, then surprise, as Yoshio clawed at his wallet and thrust a folded stack of plastic-sleeved photographs upwards. "They're too young to live without me, Lord, please don't—"  
  
The beast moved so fast that Yoshio only heard a slight _ffft_ of air pressure as the unfurled stack was sliced neatly in half and the severed portion fell to the ground.  
  
"Oh, no," Yoshio mumbled brokenly, scooping up the baby pictures. In his present state (or lack) of mind, his family had instantly been reduced to children again, barely old enough to dress themselves or cross the street alone, and the prospect of leaving them all alone brought tears to his eyes. He sniffled, then swiped at his eyes, then began bawling unashamedly, ignoring the creature's incredulous look.  
  
"Stop that," Yoshio heard distantly, but it took a stronger, more irate "Be _silent_!" to stop the flow and bring his head up. The beast still looked angry, but its grimace was set in less harsh lines. Yoshio's heart began thumping anew, this time in wild hope, as the creature tilted its luminous head slightly in thought, ears flicking gently. "You say," it growled after a minute and eternity, "that you have daughters?"  
  
"Yes! Three daughters, including Kagome," Yoshio said feverishly, dropping back down to the ground but eyeing the beast cautiously.  
  
A pointed growl brought his face back down between his hands, but he fancied the air grew a little less tense as the beast contemplated this information.  
  
"I offer you a choice, human, far less than you deserve." The voice finally came from above his head, slightly to the right as the beast approached the bushes, touched the uprooted spot gently and faced its victim once more. "You may choose to stay here and die to repay your honor and mine. But if you're truly so desperate to cling to life, you may have it. Provided," it said sharply as Yoshio's head jerked up, "provided that you tell your family exactly what has transpired here. One of your daughters will choose to come here and take your place, completely of her own will, by sunset tonight. My messenger will come to your shrine, and one of you will return. If none of your daughters choose to leave, you will come back here and—" The beast waited for Yoshio to raise his head in askance and look it in the face, then tossed the flowers down and grinned humorlessly, exposing long fangs to their roots. "Your life will be mine."  
  
Another chill swept down Yoshio's body, and his shaking renewed tenfold. "Y- y-yes, my lord, th-th-thank you for y-y-y-y-"  
  
Another growl, and the beast cut him off with a gesture. Yoshio's vision blacked out; one second he was groveling in the dirt and grabbing for the flowers, and the next he was gone.

* * *

The beast stared at the spot where the human had been seconds before, flexing his claws again and smirking, all traces of regality gone. "Dumbass." The human's reek of fear and other fouler odors had grated on his nerves almost as badly as the ruined flowers.  
  
_Thunk_ went something on the beast's head. "Ow! Dammit..." The beast clutched between his strange ears and whirled on a young man in purple robes standing just behind him. "What in the hells was that for?!"  
  
"I must say, old Myouga would've _paid_ your guest to stay longer if dealing with him is what it takes to get you to speak correctly for once," the newcomer said calmly, ignoring the claws digging into the front of his robes. He pushed the beast's arm away with his long staff, the rings of which clinked gently as he approached the bushes. "Oh, my, this certainly _is_ bad."  
  
"Why d'you think I bothered pulling rank on the moron?" The beast crossed his arms again and tapped one bare foot, then kicked angrily at the snow. "Dammit, Miroku, why'd he have to do _that_ of all things? This is what I get for trying to be nice for once!"  
  
"Calm down, Inuyasha," the monk replied, bending to examine the roots with one bead-wrapped and gloved hand. "The damage to the roots wasn't so bad. Even as slowly as these grow, this part will be back to normal in about three months."  
  
"Keh. And meanwhile, he's letting some spoiled brat play with Mother's flowers." Inuyasha's glower deepened, if that was possible. "I hope it's that one that comes, 'cause when I get my hands on her..."  
  
Miroku's serenity vanished instantly. His expressive blue-grey eyes flicked to Inuyasha and narrowed. "You wouldn't harm a child, Inuyasha, not for something like this!"  
  
"Of course not, bouzu," Inuyasha snapped. "I just wanted to teach the damn idiot a lesson. I'll keep the wench till the flowers are done growing in and then let him buy her back."  
  
"Buy her?" Miroku ran his free hand over his black hair, tugged at his short ponytail and frowned. "But her father's not a lord. That would be..."  
  
"A huge insult to them and ruin the rest of her life? Good thinking, bouzu," Inuyasha said nonchalantly. "Just the thing that rich moron needs."  
  
"Are you certain the man can even afford it?" Miroku pointed out.  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "I've never seen anything like those weird pictures of his. He had to've paid more money than I see in a year for 'em. If he can carry those and still have enough to get presents for six brats, he can afford to buy one of 'em back from me."  
  
Miroku was quiet for some time, examining the flowers absently and sliding his sandaled feet under the bushes every so often to warm them, while Inuyasha gingerly patted soil over the exposed roots. "Do you really think it's the best option to just let her go?"  
  
"What's that?" Inuyasha paused and glanced up. Miroku's handsome, solemn features had a thoughtful look he'd learned to be wary of over the years.  
  
"Well, this is the last time we're allowed to exist in this world for...how many more years?" He paused for effect, then spoke with more urgency as Inuyasha grunted and began scooping and patting faster. "Precisely. That man's coming was likely what woke us early in the first place; this must have happened for a reason. Unless you're enjoying yourself more than I thought, you must be willing to consider keeping the girl in case—"  
  
"Piss off." Inuyasha brushed his clawed hands off on his thighs and pinned the monk with a glare that would've given a lesser man coronary failure. "The daughters are all too young, remember? Besides, no one would ever agree to stick around _just in case_ once she got a good look at me. This little wench'll be lucky to remember her own name, with a wormy father like that."  
  
"You may be surprised at what children are capable of," Miroku said mildly, backing up to permit Inuyasha to start walking to the castle ahead of him. "I strongly suggest you reconsider, or at least wait till you've met your new guest before deciding what to do with her."  
  
Inuyasha growled and waved irritably at the castle. "Go wake the rest of the servants up and start getting everything ready for tonight. If you screw this up, I'll make up a third curse just for you."  
  
Miroku sighed in defeat, bobbed a half-bow and set off for a side entrance at a leisurely pace. "Oh, and Inuyasha," he called over his shoulder.  
  
"What?" Inuyasha snapped back.  
  
"Do take a bath early and get out in time to dry off. Nothing says 'dog' like the way you smell when you forget to allot enough time for preparation." Miroku smoothly picked up to a jog and narrowly dodged a head- sized snowball, waving his staff merrily at the irate lord before ducking into the relative safety of the castle.

* * *

Yoshio came to slowly, head reeling and hands grasping the rough ground unsteadily as he fought to keep from toppling over. _I'm...alive...I think..._When the world slowed and then finally stopped spinning, he opened his eyes unsteadily and blinked. _Is this...?_  
  
Another few moments to recover, and he sat back on his heels, surveying the shrine yard with complete bewilderment. There was the shrine, and all the trees and Kagome's fat cat prowling around, just as he remembered it, right down to the flowers clutched in his hand.  
  
Wait a minute...  
  
For the second time in as many days, events came back to him in a rush, and he groaned aloud again. If only he'd just been drunk this time...! But, no, here were the beast's flowers in his hand, the car was nowhere to be seen, and it was barely noon, judging from the sun directly overhead.  
  
_Don't panic,_ he told himself sternly. _I can do this...there's a logical explanation for it all, really. I just have to figure out what it is.  
_  
With a deep breath, Yoshio mentally ticked off the things he would have to explain: _Why we're still poor, why I lost the car...why they have no presents... _He glanced at the flowers in his fist and smiled bitterly. The blossoms hadn't suffered from their trip; only the roots had been crushed in his hand. _Oh, and why one of the girls has to go back to the castle and get...eaten...by...  
_  
His mind raced to start framing a brilliant story not involving credit cards, drunkenness, or gross stupidity on his part (not to mention a certain monster that wanted to eat one of them that night)...but one that wasn't too ridicul—  
  
"Daddy?" Nabiki's voice interrupted his rumination. "Daddy, you're home!"  
  
Her shout brought all five of her siblings tumbling out into the yard. Kagome dropped to her knees and hugged her father tightly. "We were worried about you last night, Dad. Did you forget to charge your cell again?"  
  
Yoshio's throat froze up, and he held out the flowers numbly. Kagome looked at him curiously, then caught her breath. "Ohhhh...Dad, these are...where did you find these?" She took them carefully and buried her nose in an open bud. "Mmmmm. They're beautiful! Thank you so much!"  
  
"Where's the car?" Ataru asked curiously.  
  
"And why do you smell like..." Yusaku let the question trail off, and it was only then that Yoshio noticed his control had probably given out without his even realizing it.  
  
The added humiliation unfroze his mouth just enough for him to get several words out. "Land...steal...credit...steal...thieves...gone...beer...go..."  
  
"What the hell are you talking about, Daddy?" Akemi demanded, scratching her newly dyed red hair and scowling.  
  
"Er..." Yoshio cleared his throat and coughed. "I was...that is, in Tokyo...I, um..."  
  
"Did you get our stuff?" Souta demanded.  
  
"Well, yes...but...a member of the yakuza took it all," Yoshio said in a rush.  
  
All six gaped at him. "What?!"  
  
"Yes, as I finished buying everything and headed to the meeting, a gang member stopped me and hijacked the car and everything in it," he improvised.  
  
"Did you fill out a police report? Why didn't you call?" Kagome was obviously worried, and a few little daggers began poking at his heart for lying to them like this.  
  
"Oh, yes, yes, of course, took me all day. But then...uh...a...nice young man stopped to help me and gave me a ride home, and even let me take one of his flowers for you, Kagome." Yoshio smiled brightly at his youngest daughter, mind working like mad to tie that in with the beast's demand. Not easy with the way the daggers were going... "Except...well...he wants to meet one of you girls in exchange."  
  
"Really now?" Nabiki asked in complete disgruntlement, though Akemi perked up and Kagome looked excited.  
  
Poke poke poke. He had to buy time or he was going to crack. Poke poke... "Uh...yes, that's right, though he was especially interested in you, Kagome."  
  
"Me?" Yoshio could have cheerfully gouged his own eyes out as Kagome's mouth fell open slightly. "Why?"  
  
"Because I...I..." One look at her flushed, slightly expectant face and his resolve crumbled like the bare roots' dirt. "Because if you don't, I'm dead, and if you do, he'll eat you!" Yoshio curled up and buried his head in his arms, completely oblivious to his family's confusion.  
  
It took several minutes and a lot of patient coaxing to get him into the house and talking again, but the first thing out of Yoshio's mouth once he had regained his power of speech was "I lied."  
  
"So you really didn't lose the souvenirs?" Nabiki pounced.  
  
"No." He siiiighed and set his head down to wait out the celebration. "But my partners lied again. They just got me into town for appearances' sake and withdrew again. We're still broke."  
  
Much consternation met this news, and only Yusaku and Kagome wondered how he'd gotten their presents if they hadn't gotten the land sold. For his part, Yoshio was only just beginning to wonder what his partner would do to him if and when he had the police track him, the credit card and the souvenirs down.  
  
"So where's the stuff?" Ataru asked.  
  
"It's in the car, about ten miles from here where I left it two nights ago," Yoshio mumbled. "I was drunk and stayed in the old castle."  
  
"The haunted one?" Souta was impressed. "Did you find anything cool?"  
  
"You could...say that..." Yoshio shut his eyes and buried his head in his arms. "As I was leaving this morn—"  
  
"We can't hear you, Daddy," Nabiki observed.  
  
Yoshio raised his head and began relating the story of his phantom hosts, then how he'd spotted the flowers and remembered Kagome. When he got to the part about the monster, he faltered about halfway through a comparison of its face to a Kabuki mask and surveyed all six mournful faces. "What? You haven't even heard what it—"  
  
"We're in so much trouble," Nabiki groaned, and Akemi heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Honestly, Daddy, why didn't you just stick to the truth?"  
  
"The truth?" Yoshio blinked.  
  
"C'mon, Daddy, out with it," Nabiki said resentfully. "You traded that yakuza all our stuff for some kinda drugs, didn't you?"  
  
Yoshio blinked again, then again. "I most certainly did nothing of the—"  
  
"And they took the car and your wallet and one of 'em has the hots for us now?" Akemi demanded. "Honestly, Daddy, how stupid can you be?"  
  
"I'm not all that surprised you screwed up the deal," Nabiki snapped. "But I never thought you'd ever be this dumb!"  
  
"You're jumping to conclusions!" Yoshio protested. "There was no yakuza! I made it up!"  
  
"And you didn't make up a monster with dog's ears?" Akemi's voice dripped with sarcasm. "What, was that flower a bonus or something?"  
  
"Yeah, how come _she_ got what she wanted and we didn't?" Nabiki demanded, glaring at Kagome as if this were all her fault.  
  
Mind still processing all the news, re-news and now the accusations, Kagome had no clue how to deal with any of this. She listened to the arguments back and forth before Akemi finally declared herself sick of him and went outside for a cigarette. Nabiki departed soon after to their room to watch TV, and the boys just looked at Kagome. She sighed and massaged her scalp slowly as her father turned to her. "Honey, I know it's crazy, but..."  
  
"I just don't know, Dad," Kagome mumbled. "It's...I don't know."  
  
"It's going to happen tonight, Kagome! **Tonight**!" His voice rose to a cracked octave, and she shushed him quickly.  
  
"If it is real, we'll deal with it when the messenger comes," she said soothingly, grabbing his 'hidden' vodka from a compartment in the kitchen floor and pouring a generous amount into the remaining orange juice from the fridge's last carton. "Here."  
  
His favorite drink helped, but his nerves were frayed all that afternoon and grew worse by the evening. As usual, neither of his older daughters was inclined towards tact. Renewed flurries of commentary on his new habit and their probable fate of starvation thanks to it drifted all around him throughout dinner, and finally Kagome had to slam a dish down on the rickety table and tell them enough was enough.  
  
"What, Kag, do you believe him?" Akemi snapped, helping herself to the last bits on Kagome's plate. "After all, it was your flower that got the magic elf mad at him in the first place, right? So if you wanna trust Acid-sama here, you have to admit this is all your fault."  
  
Nabiki nodded gravely. "S'right, you know. If you'd just asked for something normal like the rest of us, you'd be in the same boat and we'd all be equally miserable."  
  
That was so unfair that Kagome couldn't think of any suitable reply that wouldn't get her grounded for years. The stress of her father's story, the dissolution of her hopes for a school career, and her sisters' sniping had all worn her patience down to the point of physical violence, and she excused herself and hurried out to the bathroom. She was so busy fuming and looking forward to the only area of the shrine where she was guaranteed privacy that the gradual sunset completely escaped her notice.  
  
What she did notice, however, was a soft whoosh of air nearby and a large shape looming out of the shadows on her way back inside. "Hello?" she called, backing up to the shrine wall and squinting into the darkness. The shape silently moved closer to the main house, and Kagome gulped—it was huge. She slipped inside, then fumbled on the wall for the outside light, clicked it on, and peeked out.  
  
"KYAAAAAA!"  
  
"What the...?" Ataru was the first to make it to where Kagome had slumped against the wall, gasping for air.  
  
"A c-c-c-c-thing!" She waved outside. "This cat thing is out there!"  
  
Ataru slid the door open an inch, snickered and opened it wide. Kagome flinched...and suppressed another shriek as her cat leapt inside and arched against her legs, purring loudly.  
  
"It wasn't Buyo!" she protested. "It was yellow and black and...and bigger than a horse! More like a car!"  
  
"Bees are yellow and black, Kag, not cats," Akemi said lazily, stepping outside to light another cigarette.  
  
"Besides, there's nothing out there," Yusaku said, indicating the empty side yard.  
  
Nabiki glanced outside, then snorted. "Looks like Kag's been sharing with Dad. Maybe that's why she believes him."  
  
"Will you shut up about the stupid drugs?" Kagome scowled and got to her feet.  
  
"The drugs! So she admits it!" Akemi raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Someone's at the door," Souta called from the front room before Kagome could attempt to punch her oldest sister.  
  
"Noooo," Yoshio could be heard groaning from the kitchen.  
  
"Well, answer it," Kagome said irritably, ignoring Akemi and Nabiki's stage whispers and giggling behind her back.  
  
There was the sound of the door opening...and silence. "Who is it?" Kagome called, marching past her bemused older brothers and stopping in front of the open door.  
  
"Awwwwwwwww!" Nabiki crooned, coming up behind Souta to peer out onto the front step. "It's so cuuuute! What the hell is it?"  
  
"There's your monster, eyes and all," Akemi said dryly.  
  
The rest of the family just stared out at what appeared to be some kind of tiny cat...except that no breed or species of cat Kagome knew of had crimson eyes, a black diamond on the forehead, or two tails with black wound near the tips. Its body was a solid yellowish cream color with a furry ruff, black ears and teensy black paws. And Nabiki was right: red eyes or no, it was absolutely adorable. Only its very strangeness kept Kagome from scooping it up and cuddling it to death.  
  
As they all packed into the doorway to watch, the little cat-thing trotted off to one side of the doorway, picked up a large scroll in its teeth, and deposited it just inside with a soft, purring mew.  
  
"Awwwwww," Kagome murmured in sync with her sisters as their father bent to pick up the scroll. The cat glanced her way casually, and to her dismay, its back suddenly stiffened and it began to growl. Then it stopped, as abruptly as it had begun, and the cat deliberately turned its back and began grooming itself, just the way Buyo did to recover from doing something foolish in front of his humans. "What the..." she muttered.  
  
No one else moved or spoke as Yoshio unrolled the scroll carefully and scanned it, then dropped it dramatically. "You see, girls? You see?!" He watched shakily as Akemi picked it up and slowly read it aloud:  
  
_To the females of the Higurashi household: Your father has damaged my property and violated every principle of hospitality. As repayment for his life, I ask that one of you return with my messenger._  
  
All eyes turned to the cat, whose twin tails swished, and it mewed again, almost impatiently. Akemi obediently turned back to the scroll:  
  
_If no one of you chooses to acquit your father, so be it. But if so, let it be known his life will not last past dawn. Do not think you may cheat me or escape my servant.  
_  
Again everyone looked in disbelief at the little cat, then back at the scroll, which was signed with an indistinguishable chop.  
  
"You see?" Yoshio walked outside in a daze, not noticing the little cat daintily walking ahead of him and sitting placidly in the yard. He sank onto the top step. "I die, or one of you girls gets eaten by that...that _thing_!"  
  
The cat mewed again. Nabiki cast a look at it and shrugged. "Some wacko could've just trained the kitten to deliver that freaky message. Doesn't prove a damn thing."  
  
"Yeah. Besides, it's not like that cute little guy can do anything." Akemi indicated the strange cat with a flick of her cigarette ash.  
  
Kagome looked helplessly at the cat, then back at her father. "I hate to say it, Dad, but this is really just more confusing than anything."  
  
Yoshio cast his eyes upward, then addressed the cat. "Do you see why I've had trouble with this?"  
  
To his bemusement, the cat also looked straight up, seemed to sigh, and mewed for their attention. It backed up, stiffened, and suddenly flame whirled all around it, engulfing it for a heartbeat – they all yelped in perfect unison – and then flickered into nothing to reveal a massive, saber- toothed feline that resembled the little cat to a tee except for the large flames laced around each paw. Each tail alone was now as big as Yoshio's torso, though Kagome's original car comparison was a slight exaggeration. The cat glanced at each of them in turn, studiously ignoring Kagome, then turned her back again and curled up, as if to reassure them that no one was going to get eaten just yet.  
  
Once their shock and initial impulses to flee wore off, the transformation in the family was even swifter: if this cute little thing could change into a monster just like that, who was to say there wasn't another monster living in the castle?  
  
"Okay, maybe the land was all Daddy's fault and he screwed up with the flowers, too, but that's also Kagome's fault," Akemi declared, lighting yet another cig with trembling hands. "I am _not_ gonna go get eaten by some weird thing that I have nothing to do with!"  
  
"Same here," Nabiki said quickly, shaking her head rapidly. "You wanted the flowers, Kag, you got 'em, so you go pay for it!"  
  
"She can't leave!" Souta protested, grabbing Kagome's hand protectively. "She's the only one around here who actually does anything! We'd starve and have to eat dirty clothes without her!"  
  
"We can make do," Nabiki argued, but Yusaku and Ataru shook their heads.  
  
"Hey..." Ataru dropped his voice and glanced at the cat's prone form. "Why don't we just kill the monster or something? Problem solved."  
  
"With what, chopsticks?" Yusaku snorted.  
  
"Not a good idea, son." Yoshio shuddered. "You didn't see that thing. Teeth like swords, claws like knives..."  
  
Akemi began to sniffle, and even Nabiki looked ready to be sick. "Daaaad..."  
  
White-faced, Kagome spoke up. "Do we have to decide right now, right this second?"  
  
The cat slowly got up, streeetched, and sat on her haunches facing them, eyes narrowed very slightly. "I think that's a yes." Kagome swallowed hard.  
  
"Don't go," Souta begged again.  
  
"If someone doesn't, Dad dies," she shot back, more harshly than she'd meant.  
  
"I'll go, Kagome," Yoshio reassured her, patting her shoulder awkwardly. "Neither of your sisters seem inclined, and rightfully so—"  
  
"Hell no, I'm not inclined," Akemi retorted.  
  
"But this wasn't your fault, either, honey, and I've done about all I can for you kids by now, so..." Yoshio couldn't continue. Kagome silently flung her arms around his neck, holding on for so long that the cat began to rumble, gently but in clear warning.  
  
Kagome released him, eyes swimming with tears. "Goodbye, Dad." And she leapt down the steps and held her hand out to the cat. "I'm ready to go." The cat obligingly crouched for Kagome to get on its back, dancing out of Yoshio and Yusaku's grasps and launching into the air with dizzying speed. Kagome shut her ears to her brothers and father yelling her name below, clutching the fire-cat's ruff tightly and willing herself not to cry.

* * *

It was barely five minutes since they'd started, and Kagome was almost enjoying the cool, sweet night air on her face and the views of the treetops a few hundred feet below. She had no clue how or why this cat thing could fly, but it was exhilarating and peaceful at the same time and just what she needed to keep from thinking of her family and bawling. The fact that the end of this trip signaled her messy and painful death wasn't the only reason she was sorry when a light, nearly conversational noise from her mount warned her of a sudden descent.  
  
Kagome gaped openly as they approached the castle. The courtyard was criss- crossed with hundreds of strings of lit paper lanterns, braziers, torches and generally as much light as she'd been used to while living in Tokyo. "It's beautiful," she said aloud, leaning over for a better look as the cat swooped down to land gently. She slid off, thanked the cat shyly and looked around again, rubbing her legs and letting her stomach settle. "Your master's got to be pretty hungry if he's this happy I'm here. Or do all the girls you bring here get the City Lights treatment?"  
  
Of course the cat made no answer, but stalked off ahead, bounding up the long staircase in two leaps and disappearing into the massive, open double doors. Kagome stared after it, then shrugged and scanned the area once more. She was the only person in the whole courtyard, and pretty as it was, it was also very quiet—too quiet.  
  
No one seemed to be coming out to greet her...maybe the beast wanted to hunt her? No, then he just would've come to the shrine for all of them. She shuddered at the thought: what if he decided to eat them all anyway after he was done with her?  
  
Well, in any case, there was no chance of her standing out here all night. She shook her head to clear it, straightened her shoulders and headed for the steps.

* * *

Not far off, just inside the castle's great entrance hall, Miroku was engaged in a verbal battle and growing desperate.  
  
"I'm tired of repeating myself, houshi-sama," his opponent said coldly. "I am _not_ a nursemaid."  
  
"No one ever said or implied you were, Sango-sama," Miroku replied placatingly. Though his wandering eye had long been settled firmly on Sango's lithe figure, even his natural charm and perversion were failing to lend him the strength needed to wear the young woman down. "But Inuyasha wanted you to be the one to introduce the girl to—"  
  
"To babysit her! I fail to see why that can't be left to the maids or actual servants!" Sango's eyes glittered; usually their color reminded Miroku of brown velvet, much lighter than her mahogany hair, but now they were more like steel...except steel wasn't nearly as scary, or as hard to wear down. Not that it made her face any less attractive...no, quite the contrary...  
  
A familiar thump and growl at the entrance brought both their heads around in temporary relief from their 'discussion.' "Kirara," Sango greeted the fire-cat, smiling and rubbing under her chin as Kirara purred. "Did you bring her?" The cat rumbled an assent. "Thanks, Kirara. Head down to the kitchen for some fish—and make sure you're small first!" she called after the cat as she streaked away.  
  
Miroku sighed and suddenly dropped to his knees, bowing in complete supplication. "Please please _please_ take care of her, Sango-sama, just for tonight, or Inuyasha will tear my head off! I'm begging you as one human being to another, please don't upset the girl!"  
  
"I don't know anything about washing clothes or serving meals or any of that nonsense," Sango argued, but Miroku sensed her uneasiness and smiled inwardly.  
  
"Think about it, Sango-sama," he said softly, changing strategy. "The child has been ripped from her family by her own nobility in saving her father's life and is now Inuyasha's to do with as he pleases. Who else will she have to turn to for comfort till she's reunited with her loved ones?"  
  
Sango swallowed and shifted her simple green-and-mauve kimono higher on her shoulders. "Yes, but...but I don't know how to..."  
  
"Just be yourself, Sango-sama, and the girl will have no choice but to be at ease! Help her get dressed, put her to bed, and that's all!" Miroku pleaded, looking up with traces of genuine panic in his face. He suddenly grasped her hands. "It's a simple matter, and you can take it out on Inuyasha all you like tomorrow or even after the girl is asleep tonight, but just for now, pleeee—"  
  
"All right!" Sango hissed as a head appeared in the entranceway. "She's coming up the stairs! Get off the floor and let go of me before she thinks we're both idiots!"  
  
Miroku released her, sprang to his feet and gave a quick, deep bow with a speedy "Your kindness is exceeded only by your beauty and good taste" before straightening and coming to stand beside her in proper solemnity. It was time to greet the master's new...guest?  
  
As the figure at the top of the stairs grew clearer, it also became clear that the lord's new guest was _not_ a child. Sango shot Miroku a sideways death glare for his mistake, which he accepted with a bemused, slightly apologetic eyebrow wriggle.  
  
But that was the least of their surprises. Kagome came up into the light, bowed awkwardly, and looked them each full in the face.  
  
Miroku felt his mouth hanging slightly open. It _couldn't—_ But no, he wasn't imagining it, and Sango looked as shocked as he felt. It took all his courage not to lean away or step back, and he felt a flush of pride when Sango spoke quietly and steadily. "You are Lord Inuyasha's guest?"  
  
"Yes, I'm here in my dad's place," Kagome answered, bowing again in a rush of nervousness. The looks they were giving her weren't helping...were they that surprised by her clothes? Pants weren't that big a deal, were they? "I'm Higurashi Kagome. Pleased to eat...I mean, meet you." Damn. Good one, Kag. They'll love that.  
  
But neither the young man nor the woman – who looked about her age, but who was eyeing her like some species of strange bug – seemed to notice the slip. "Good evening, Kagome-sama," the man said smoothly, bowing and eyeing her with more interest now. "Before Sango-sama shows you to the bath, may I ask you a question?" Kagome nodded warily. "Would you do me the honor of—"  
  
Sango coughed loudly and 'accidentally' ground her heel into the monk's instep, and his face went through all sorts of interesting contortions before he smiled politely, mouthed a "Never mind" and swiftly limped off, leaning heavily on his staff. "While the houshi-sama informs Lord Inuyasha of your arrival," Sango said, also rather loudly and with a slight edge of panic, as Miroku hobbled into a side hall, "allow me to show you the baths. This way, please."  
  
To Kagome's surprise, it seemed that she was actually expected to bathe before the fun began, whatever that might consist of. Moreover, Sango insisted stiffly upon helping her remove her clothes. The sweater, shirt and especially the pants greatly interested her, but she remained politely silent as she stacked them neatly and awkwardly to one side.  
  
Kagome was more than a little weirded out by the fact that these people were even here in the first place (or were they...? Sango definitely felt real, not like a ghost, at least), and being told to bathe in front of one of them, even another woman, was pushing it. Luckily for both of them, Kagome was too tired from the day's emotional shocks to protest as Sango handed her a pin to put her hair up with, began scrubbing her back, then rinsed her off with several nearby buckets and bade her get into the tub.  
  
As Kagome soaked and forced herself to relax for what she figured was her last bath ever, Sango left and came back in with a set of underkimonos and towels. Kagome watched her arranging things, almost fidgeting, and wondered if the other woman knew what was going to happen, or why she was being allowed to bathe in the first place. It seemed like a waste of time...  
  
The answer came to her a moment later, and she grinned, then laughed right out loud. Sango's eyes went very wide, and she regarded Kagome with veiled amazement. "Is something wrong, my lady?"  
  
Kagome waved one hand and shook her head. "Nah, I was just wondering if Inuyasha always makes his dinner clean up first before he eats it. Kinda funny in a stupid way, making your dinner clean up before you eat, isn't it?"  
  
Sango's lips twitched into a smile. This little mistaken impression was going to make things interesting. "I suppose it is, Kagome-sama."  
  
Emboldened by her reaction, Kagome waved another hand and settled it idly on the surface of the water, pushing and raising her palm to feel the heat change. "Just call me Kagome, or keep the formality down. I'm probably younger than you are. I'm only..."  
  
She stopped dead. 18. She was 18 starting tomorrow. Her birthday.  
  
Sango waited patiently for Kagome to finish. "You're...how old? Kagome-san?"  
  
Suddenly Kagome laughed and slapped the water. "I knew something was wrong! This always happens...I know something bad's gonna happen, and it happens! My 18th birthday tomorrow, and my present is..." She shook her head. "Ahhh, I'm sorry, but you understand, don't you?"  
  
_If only you knew..._"I think so, Kagome-san. Would you like to come out now?"  
  
"Sure." Kagome let Sango help her out of the huge tub and began to dry herself off. "Uh...Sango-san? Can I ask you a question?"  
  
Sango's whole demeanor stiffened back into wary formality. "I'm afraid I may not be able to answer, but yes, you may."  
  
_Weird._ "Uh...you don't...well, you and the other guy..."  
  
"The houshi-sama? Miroku?" Sango ignored a little twinge in her stomach.  
  
"Yeah, him. Well, I showed up and you two looked at me like I was some kind of zombie." Sango flinched, but covered it well before Kagome turned back to her. "Why was that, if I can ask?"  
  
"Well, your father showed Lord Inuyasha several pictures of your family that indicated his children were all still young," Sango answered truthfully. "They looked recent."  
  
Kagome giggled, then started laughing outright. "Those are photographs," she said between gulps of air. Unwittingly echoing Sango, all she could think was that this was going to make things interesting. "We use special devices to capture an image in front of them exactly as it appears, and then create that image on a special kind of paper that lasts for years. Those pictures – photos – were way over a decade old."  
  
"I see," Sango said slowly, then smiled, a bit maliciously, at the thought of Inuyasha's face upon discovering the truth behind the pictures. Then she thought of Inuyasha's face upon seeing Kagome now, and her smile disappeared. "Also," she said briskly, motioning for Kagome to hold her arms out so she could slide the bottom kimono on, "the houshi-sama is the resident monk and spiritual adviser, while I am taijiya, a demon slayer and warrior..."  
  
"And not a maid?" Kagome picked up on Sango's hesitation. "So having to dress me up is a comedown?"  
  
"Well, that's a harsh way to put it...but yes," Sango said truthfully, thankful for Kagome's quick honesty.  
  
"Wow. I'm sorry. Well, at least you won't have to put up with me for long, right?"  
  
Sango paused to look at Kagome in astonishment. This girl was making her do that quite a bit, it seemed. "The idea of dying doesn't frighten you?"  
  
"Eh. If my time's come, well, I just hope this Inuyasha doesn't want to cook me too much before he starts. I hate sunburns." Kagome was doing her best to conceal her growing fear, and as usual when she started getting afraid, she also found herself getting angry. Neither emotion was much fun, and the whole situation was rapidly wearing on her raw nerves. _Better to just get this over with._ "So when do we eat?"

* * *

"What is it, Miroku?" Inuyasha snapped, straightening his red haori, and the shoji to his right slid open.  
  
"Well...your guest has arrived, Lord," Miroku said uneasily, shifting his weight. "Sango has agreed to tend to her."  
  
"Good. Very good. Send her in as soon as she's done." Inuyasha waved a hand in dismissal, too busy with his thoughts to notice the monk almost scurrying away.  
  
_So it begins. Last chance, Inuyasha, better not screw this one up._ A wisp of fear scent caught his attention, and he frowned at the shoji Miroku had forgotten to close._ Everyone's probably just waiting for me to eat her or something. Idiots. As if I didn't know this is their last chance, too...  
_  
Well, judging from the usually unflappable monk's reaction, the girl was probably terrified and putting up a fuss already. Not good.  
  
Inuyasha ignored his own growing nervousness and looked over his clothes, deciding lamely that maybe being dressed perfectly might help to make a good first impression. A final tug here and there...and he was done. As always, he wore all red, save for flashes of his white kimono under the slits in his haori's sleeves. He never bothered with his mane of white hair, which hung well past his waist. _Piss on Miroku. I'm never cutting it.  
_  
As if he had somehow heard, Miroku reappeared. "She's ready," he said weakly, gesturing behind him with his staff.  
  
Inuyasha scowled. Miroku was good at hiding his emotions – for a human, anyway – but he couldn't conceal his scent, or the fact that he was almost faint with apprehension. "Relax, bouzu, I told you I'll go easy on her."  
  
Miroku looked ready to ask if he was sure, but checked himself at his lord's growl. "As you wish." And he beckoned for Inuyasha to follow him.

* * *

Sango had escorted Kagome to a little room covered with several beautiful rice-paper hangings and indicated a cushion for her to kneel on while she waited. But as soon as her knees touched the sturdy fabric, Kagome was back on her feet and pacing restlessly, heedless of the lanterns' soft glow on the wonderful paintings of birds, sunsets and richly dressed courtiers all around her.  
  
"Uh...Kagome-san? Would you like something to drink?" Sango offered kindly, watching her stalk around the room in silent circles as fast as her kimono would permit.  
  
"No," Kagome snapped. "Thanks. If you want to bring some soy sauce in, though, that'd be fine. Brown's my color, and your master would probably appreciate it!"  
  
Sango scooted back against the wall and resolved not to say anything the rest of the night if she could help it.  
  
Kagome irritably pulled her hair free of its pins and paused to stroke one of her sleeves, trying to calm herself. Sango had dressed her in five layers; the outermost kimono was a breathtaking scarlet, silk embroidered with cranes and bound with a golden-striped obi, but the feel of the smooth fabric did nothing to quell her fury.  
  
How dare this...this beast force her to come here, leave her family without saying goodbye, and then make her wait to be eaten?! Her father and brothers needed her, and even if it was monumentally stupid of Yoshio to yank those flowers up, he'd just done it in a moment of ignorance! Who or what in their right mind would kill and eat someone for that? No one!  
  
_Wait..._She gulped. _He_ is _going to kill me first, right?_ The thought made her knees go shaky and chilled her whole body; anger deftly swept the cold away and steadied her resolve. _Well, hell with him! See if I go quietly!  
  
_"Kagome-sama?" Kagome whirled around, ready to do battle and cursing her obi: it was beautiful, but also restricted her breathing quite a bit, and she needed all her breath right now.  
  
But it was only Miroku. He bowed steadily, cast Sango a look Kagome couldn't interpret, and cleared his throat. "Lord Inuyasha is ready to see you now." He pushed the shoji open wider.  
  
Something prickled on the back of Kagome's neck. She tore her eyes away from Miroku and slowly turned to look behind her.  
  
_Red_. Red eyes. Red clothes, some kind of feudal style but rich, almost blood-red. Kagome's hands shook a little as she gripped the insides of her wide sleeves and forced herself to take in detail, not just color.  
  
She immediately saw why her father had been so terrified; after all, the castle's lord did have fangs, claws, dog ears, face stripes, and white hair...and red eyes—but those eyes were not terrifying.  
  
Scary, maybe...a little, as she first looked into them and swallowed hard as blue pupils fixed on her. But they weren't glaring, not narrowed in anger or hatred or greed. No, they were wide, unblinking, and almost as stunned as hers.  
  
As the seconds wore on, the shock gave way; Inuyasha's mouth fell open very slightly, and Kagome's anger faded into unnerved bewilderment. He didn't look ready to eat her, she thought: more like he was afraid she was going to disappear or something. And she blinked, trying to catch her breath, and he hesitated, started to come forward, then drew back.  
  
Kagome had never been more confused in her life. Her knees had started trembling imperceptibly under the weight of his gaze, but not from fear.  
  
Blood-red or not, those eyes were completely unguarded. First deep, aching hurt, then momentary anger, and finally shy hope all flitted through as he slowly, carefully took a step towards her, then another, another. Kagome couldn't move, even to breathe; could only watch, mesmerized, as he raised a hand to touch her face.  
  
The loud rattling of Miroku's staff as he and Sango leaned in closer jerked Kagome out of the spell, literally, and she jumped. Inuyasha recoiled, then broke eye contact for the first time to give Miroku an even look that promised worse than death very, very soon.  
  
But as soon as the...whatever it was...had passed, Kagome remembered that this was the beast who'd taken her away from her family in order to....Her back stiffened. She took a long, deep breath, then let it out and glared at Inuyasha. "Well, what d'you think? Good enough to eat?"  
  
Inuyasha stopped dead. With almost painful slowness his head turned from the frozen monk to look at Kagome, who had the impression of him really looking at her for the first time. He sniffed audibly; suddenly his face hardened, and Kagome swallowed hard but stood her ground. All traces of vulnerability were long gone now, replaced by intense disdain, dislike and disgust.  
  
"I seem to have made a mistake," Inuyasha ground out, sparing a dirty look for Miroku. "This is not acceptable, bouzu. Take her back to her idiot father, and do it now."  
  
Sango gulped, and Miroku nearly dropped his staff. "B-but Lord Inuya—"  
  
"Shut up," Inuyasha snapped, turning on his heel to stalk away.  
  
"My Lord Inuyasha?" Kagome's sweet, pleasant inquiry stopped him again, and despite himself, he looked over his shoulder. She was smiling prettily, head cocked to one side. His heart clenched. "May I ask something of milord?"  
  
Concealing his inner turmoil, Inuyasha turned back and came a few steps closer. "What?"  
  
Kagome smiled even more sweetly, took a deep breath, and let him have it.  
  
_"WHAT IN THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM, YOU ARROGANT BASTARD?!"_  
  
Inuyasha's ears flattened against his head, and he clapped his hands over them in a vain, belated attempt to protect his sensitive hearing. "Wh-wh-wh- wha—"  
  
_"You scare my father half to death, scare my family half to death, take me away from them so you can eat me, and then decide I'm **not acceptable**?!"_  
  
Inuyasha freed one hand and waved it at her to try to shut her up as she paused for breath. "What are you talking about, you stupid—"  
  
_"I am TALKING about you forcing families apart and killing people over your bloody FLOWERS when my father just made an honest mistake and apologized! But no, off with his head or eat one of his daughters, that's the only way to make it better!"_  
  
Kagome had to breathe again and cursed her obi more than ever. But all the pent-up sorrow and rage that'd been building in her...well, for _years_ now, even if everything she was screaming about was recent—the need to release some of it was stronger than mere oxygen deprivation, and here was the perfect opportunity.  
  
_"And then making me take a bath, dress up like a medieval Barbie and sit around so you can stare at me like a slab of beef and tell them I am NOT ACCEPTABLE?! I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I do NOT appreciate this, you stuck-up—brainless—fuzzy— **asshole**! Why don't you just eat sh—"_  
  
"Now hold on just a damn second!" Inuyasha roared, taking advantage of her need to stop and gasp for air. Being emotionally jerked around and then screamed at for something he wasn't going to do (not to mention being caught acting like a pansy in front of his servants) did not sit well with him. "I dunno where you got that stupid idea, but I am not going to eat you! You are not food! I don't eat people, especially not foul-mouthed bitches who don't know what they're talking about and can't shut up!"  
  
Kagome glared daggers at him, but was breathing too hard to retaliate just yet. "Then...pant...what..."  
  
"You're a hostage, look at it that way," Inuyasha snapped, glaring right back with his patented Scary Eyes. She flinched at the way his face furrowed into a demonic snarl, but scowled and refused to look away. "All I want is to make your father suffer a little. Then he can have you back—for the right price."  
  
The girl just kept glaring at him. "As I said," Inuyasha gritted through his clenched teeth, feeling his fangs prick his jaw and letting the slight pain anger him further. "I don't eat humans. But if you don't stop pissing me off and learn your place, I can always make an exception!"  
  
Her eyes widened, and she waited till her breathing slowed to speak, very quietly. "You mean I'm not food...and that I'm just here so you can sell me to my father like some kind of slave?" Inuyasha smirked. "I see." She bowed her head and sighed.  
  
"Good," Inuyasha said with immense satisfaction. "I'm glad to see you..." Her lips moved. "What?" They moved again, but no sound came out, and he smirked again. She was speechless, eh? "Speak up, wench."  
  
He realized his mistake about two milliseconds before she obeyed at maximum volume. "I SAID, _SCREW YOU!_ He can't afford to pay for groceries, much less whatever you'd gouge him for me! I'm so very sorry to tell you this, but there's no way it's gonna happen! You'll have to find some other way to humiliate us!"  
  
Damn. She picked up on that quick. But... "What about those idiotic pictures he had?" Inuyasha yelled back. "Those were higher quality than any painting I've ever seen in my life! I could see your ugly little faces clear as day! And why aren't you a whelp? Are you some kind of witch or kami that can age as you please?!"  
  
"Those are photographs!" Kagome's throat was really starting to hurt, but damned if she was going to stop yelling _now_. "If you knew anything, you'd know that cameras capture images of things, make perfect copies of them on paper, and those photographs last for years! They're so cheap, anyone can get one made on the street! Dad's photos of us are God knows how many years old!"  
  
_Damn_! "You mean I'm stuck with you because your dad's as poor as he is stupid?" Inuyasha yelped. "That—he—_dammit_! Well, thanks for letting me think you were worth anything!"  
  
"And thank _you_ for going ballistic over your stupid plants and giving _me_ so much time to say goodbye to my family, who don't _love_ me or need me and whom I'm not going to _miss_ at all! Not to mention all the advance notice for me to pack and—"  
  
"Sango." Everyone in the room jumped as Inuyasha barked the other woman's name. "Go to the shack her family's squatting in and retrieve her things, then her father's. I'll figure out something to do with her in the meantime."  
  
_My father's?_ But as Sango bowed and turned to leave, Kagome suddenly realized that the slayer had listened to all her talk about dying without breathing a word of Inuyasha's actual plans; she glared at Sango, who looked sheepish. _So she did know!_  
  
"Don't give her that look," Inuyasha said sharply, and Kagome regarded him with surprise. "The castle's servants are bound not to say certain things about me, even if you ask them directly. There was no way she could've told you about this, so drop the righteous indignation. It makes you look even dumber."  
  
Almost choked with rage, Kagome tried to think of a suitable retort and failed: her adrenaline had given out, and she could tell her throat was almost raw. _Bastard...I can deal with Nabiki and Akemi giving me a hard time, but not this...freak!  
_  
Inuyasha smirked at her and slid open another shoji. "Oi, Miroku," he said carelessly, and the monk twitched violently. "Take the wench to someplace she can sleep. Maybe it'll help her brain start working again...assuming it ever did."  
  
Miroku gulped. Kagome seethed for another moment, then coughed to clear her throat. She took a deep, calming breath, let it out, and addressed Inuyasha quietly and pleasantly: "Va te faire voir."  
  
"What was that?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her, and she smiled sweetly. "Whatever, wench. I'm goin' to sleep now." And he slammed the shoji closed behind him.

* * *

As Miroku showed Kagome a room with a water basin for her to drink and recover her throat a bit, he personally pulled out a futon, then let her unfold it herself to avoid giving an improper impression. It was a nice thought, but completely useless, as she caught him eyeballing her rear with much enjoyment as she bent over to smooth it out.  
  
"My apologies." Miroku held his hands up in quick surrender as she grabbed the basin and aimed it at his head. "Forgive me, Kagome-sama."  
  
Kagome hmphed and took another long drink, watching him narrowly. He waited till she was finished to bow. "Good night, dearest Lady, and thank you for the most entertaining conversation Inuyasha has ever had."  
  
"Huh?" Kagome put the water down. "I thought you'd be upset that I yelled at him. He is your master, right?"  
  
Miroku grinned and rubbed the back of his head, full of boyish charm, and she couldn't help smiling in return. "Yes, Kagome-sama, but you may have noticed that Inuyasha is something of a...special case. And no, Kagome-sama, I believe the servants have already spread the story throughout the castle. I would be surprised if any _haven't_ decided you're either very brave or completely suicidal before the hour is out." He bowed, still grinning. "I am completely convinced of the former, and Sango will tell you the same when she returns tomorrow morning. Ah, the day when he accuses someone else of being foul-mouthed..."  
  
Miroku bowed again and left the room quietly, staff clinking all the way...and then came back and stuck his head in as she was removing her obi. "Oh, and before I bid you good night..."  
  
Kagome clutched her kimono around herself and glared at him. "What is it?"  
  
"What precisely did you say to Inuyasha in that foreign tongue, if I may ask?" Miroku was clearly dying of curiosity.  
  
Kagome chuckled and rubbed her hands together. "It was French. And I told him to go to hell." She smiled and waved at Miroku. "Now, good night." He swiftly pulled the shoji back, and she listened to his soft step heading away from the room, laughing quietly all the way.

_Dear Diary...today I got abducted by a cat, bathed and hit on by ghosts, and fought with some kind of dog...thing. Tomorrow can't get any worse. Good night._ Her eyes closed, and despite the strangeness of the castle noises, the smell of the old wood and slightly musty futon, and the torchlight flickering in the next room, Kagome was almost instantly asleep.

* * *

A/N: And there you have it. Next chapter, we truly get into it.   
  
And I should probably clarify some Japanese words and terms at this point. It bugs me to write gratuitous "hai" and "baka" and "hentai!"s (not picking on those who do write lots of those words...whatever floats your boat), but I did keep a few words in where it seemed necessary, like haori (it's like a kimono, but much shorter), hakama (think of this: Kikyou and Kaede wear red hakama), bouzu (a rude term for a Buddhist monk, which I kept because it's ruder and conveys Inuyasha's personality better than just "monk"), shoji (rice paper sliding walls), and the honorifics. I waffled a bit on –sama vs. "Lady" or "Lord," but I just like honorifics. :D  
  
A note about the hostage business: as I understand it, it was a common practice for Japanese daimyos (lords) to "host" members of other lords' families as insurance that the other lords wouldn't do certain things. However, in Kagome's family's case (or what Inuyasha thinks is her case), her father is rich but not a lord, and so her being sold back like a slave after living with him pretty much destroys her honor; since she wouldn't be a political hostage, Inuyasha could do with her as he pleased, and when she returned to her family, her chances of marrying into a good family would've been shot to hell, and if a woman had no chance of getting married into a good family... well... tsk tsk.  
  
(If I've screwed up on any cultural points, please let me know...but only if you know for a fact I did. I.e., I will ignore corrections on how she got her back scrubbed and _then_ got into the tub. ;D Till next chapter...) 


	3. First Day

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha or any of his compadres, I'd be very rich and sleep all the time instead of writing fanfiction....No, actually, I'd draw manga all the time instead of writing fanfiction. So maybe the fact that Rumiko Takahashi owns these characters has an upside after all... :')  
  
A/N: More rambling: been busy this weekend w/ dressing people in kimonos for prom and playing DDR, but now that finals are over and I have nothing to do till next month, on with the show! Wheeee.

* * *

**Beast**  
  
**Chapter 3** ****   
  
Kagome awoke with a start as paws thudded gently into the small of her back and shifted, churning her skin slightly for balance; she scrunched her head deeper under one warm arm and waved the other feebly at her backside. "Go 'way, Buyo."  
  
Instead of the usual loud meow and sensation of a blob of warmth curling up, she heard nothing and felt the paws migrate cautiously up her back, stopping to balance on her shoulders. "Mmmmmph..." she mumbled, shrugging to ease him off. The points of weight stuck on, though, and she had to wonder where Buyo had learned how to support 25-ish pounds of fat on two scrawny legs. "Go 'way."  
  
"Can I see what you look like?"  
  
Eyes still shut and burrowed into the blankets, Kagome scowled. "You see me every day. Now lemme sleep."  
  
"But it's light outside."  
  
"I don' care, just five mo—" Wait. Buyo never asked her to get up...did he?  
  
With a long yawn and a reluctant stretch, Kagome slowly turned onto her side, and the weight on her shoulder blades nimbly scrambled for balance and rested a bit painfully on her ribs. "You're diggin' in. Cut it AAAAAAA!" Kagome bolted upright, dislodging him with a light thud.  
  
She had cracked her eyes open enough to ascertain that the paws belonged to something with bright green eyes, fur, and a tail, but definitely not Buyo. _Crap, I knew this wasn't all a dream!_  
  
The interloper sat up, rubbed his head and frowned. "You didn't have to scare me like that, y'know. I have sensitive ears."  
  
"Sorry...but did you have to walk on me?" Kagome was rubbing her eyes, blearily trying to confirm that her visitor was indeed a small boy with a bushy fawn-colored tail, a pair of fangs (like Inuyasha's but vastly undersized), and feet shaped like canine paws. His ears were sharply pointed, too, and he stuck one finger in each and wiggled it around to clear them. As the shock wore off, she also noted that he had reddish-brown hair tied in a high ponytail with a blue-green bow, and looked barely older than a toddler. Quite cute, really, even with the baby fangs. _Must...not...grab...and...squeeze to death...!_  
  
"I guess that's only fair," the little boy said after a moment's consideration. He brushed his dark blue hakama off, then straightened his lighter blue-green shirt, embroidered with white leaves, and smoothed out the furry brown vest over it. "But it's way past dawn. I had every right to wake you up."  
  
"I guess you did," Kagome agreed. He blinked at her again, looking wary till she smiled at him—then he beamed and she had to resist harder than ever. "What's your name?"  
  
"I'm Shippou." The boy hopped into her lap and sat down, tucking his tiny hands into his sleeves. He frowned up at her, clearly trying very hard to be serious, and Kagome had to bite the insides of her cheeks to keep from grinning. "I only just woke up this morning, too, and I heard some of the laundry ladies talking about you. One of them said you told Inuyasha to go to hell."  
  
Kagome put one hand to her face. "Lord. I knew I shouldn't have told Miroku what I said...so everyone knows now?"  
  
"Everyone who's awake does. The others should probably hear about it when it's their turn," Shippou answered, wiggling his feet absently and watching the toes move. "They didn't say you were so pretty, though."  
  
Kagome carefully placed one elbow on her right knee and rested her cheek on her hand, smiling at the compliment. "What do you mean, 'everyone's who's awake'?"  
  
"We've all been sleeping for..." Shippou frowned. "Geez, I dunno how many years. Inuyasha would know. I'll ask him later. But anyway, we only get to come back to the living world every hundred years, and this time Inuyasha woke up early, so he woke up Miroku, he woke up Sango, and they started waking all the other people here. There's a lot of people, so they're still finding where everyone is."  
  
"I see," Kagome said thoughtfully. "Some kind of spell?" Shippou nodded, and she gave in to her urges long enough to adjust his bow for him. "So you're not really ghosts after all, eh?"  
  
He ducked out of her grip, pretending to scowl at her. "Of course not. Someone just cursed Inuyasha and we all got stuck with it."  
  
"Ahhh." Kagome frowned as a bell rang dimly. "But I thought the servants couldn't talk about Inuyasha without his permission."  
  
"I'm not a servant," Shippou huffed, rolling off her lap. "But that's pretty much all I know anyway."  
  
"I see. Well, thanks for telling me." Kagome smiled again and stretched fully, lacing her fingers together over her head and pulling this way and that. "Could you do me a favor and ask Sango to come here for a minute?"  
  
"No need, Kagome-san," Sango said from behind the nearest shoji, sliding it open and carrying a small tray. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"  
  
"Good morning. I slept like a dead rock, thanks." Kagome knelt and picked up her chopsticks, then raised her arms out of the way so Shippou could finish climbing into her lap.  
  
"Shippou," Sango scolded, smiling but slightly irritated.  
  
"Oh, it's all right," Kagome assured them both, as Shippou turned soulful green puppy eyes on her. "This is for me, though, got it?"  
  
Shippou nodded rapidly and snuggled closer, nonetheless watching her like a hawk as she began to eat.  
  
"Does your family live in the castle, Shippou?" Kagome asked around a mouthful.  
  
"Shippou is an orphan," Sango answered sadly for him. "He was permitted to live here when Inuyasha found out he had nowhere else to go."  
  
_Huh._ But pity for the little boy eroded her mild curiosity about Inuyasha. "I'm sorry, Shippou-chan," Kagome told the boy, handing him her rice bowl and chopsticks. He instantly brightened, taking his eyes off the floor and shoveling food at an impressive speed. "Don't pack it all in or you'll choke," she warned.  
  
"Inuyaffa filled the gaf oo illed 'y pawens," he responded, slowing down marginally but never pausing.  
  
Kagome grabbed the sticks out of his hands and reclaimed the bowl. "What was that?"  
  
Shippou pouted as she set about finishing the half-bowl or so remaining. "I said, Inuyasha killed the guys who killed my parents. So I gotta stay here till I can figure out how to repay him."  
  
"I see," Kagome said quietly, curiosity resurfacing with a vengeance. _How long ago was this? How'd he kill them? Were they human? What is Shippou, anyway, not to mention Inuyasha?_  
  
"I see you're awake, Kagome-sama." A strange woman in a simple blue kimono and hair wrap appeared, bowing politely to Kagome and giving Sango a look of utmost dislike. "I do apologize most profusely for not attending you earlier."  
  
"That's all right," Kagome answered, uneasy at the room's sudden coldness. Sango stared ahead and pointedly ignored the woman, who set about folding up the futon. Silence descended, broken only by the scrape of chopsticks as Kagome ate, finished the rice and glanced curiously at Sango.  
  
"Can I have some more, Kagome?" Shippou pleaded, and Kagome obligingly handed him the chopsticks once more. She could have sworn she heard the faintest sniff of disapproval from the servant.  
  
"I should be leaving now, Kagome-san," Sango said suddenly and stood up, earning another sniff from the woman for her informality. "Lord Inuyasha will want to know you're awake. He has something for you."  
  
"Really?" Kagome half-rose, barely catching Shippou as he continued to eat in midair, unperturbed. "No, no, please stay. There are more things I wanted to ask you—"  
  
"Please excuse my _rudeness_, Kagome-sama," the servant cut in smoothly. "But for your own peace of mind, may I suggest that Sango-san be permitted to see our exalted Lord as she pleases? We wouldn't want to keep Lord Inuyasha waiting."  
  
"Ah..." Kagome was about to agree out of sheer confusion, but one look at Sango's face changed her mind. "Please go and tell him that I require Sango's presence here for a while longer and I will be out shortly."  
  
"Yes, my Lady." The servant bowed deeply and glided out, not bothering to conceal a faint smirk.  
  
The shoji slid shut, and they listened to her footsteps fade. "All right, what was she talking about?" Kagome asked quietly.  
  
Sango's hands were clenching and unclenching the front of her kimono. "Nothing that needs concern you, Kagome-san."  
  
"The other women are jealous and say she's pillowing with Inuyasha, whatever that means," Shippou piped up, and Sango's face flushed angrily.  
  
"I get it," Kagome said slowly, waving at Shippou to finish eating when he looked at her questioningly. "So they're gossiping about you and want me to think—"  
  
"That I'm no better than some kind of courtesan, yes," Sango said stiffly, though she relaxed a bit. "You know it's a lie, all of it."  
  
"People really don't ever change," Kagome mumbled to herself. By what Shippou had told her, she guessed the castle population had been cursed for hundreds of years, but otherwise, they seemed to be pretty normal people. It was oddly comforting, in a way. Not that Sango needed to hear that... "I believe you. They're probably all mad that you got assigned to help me and not one of them or something."  
  
Sango raised her eyebrows. "I think you have a point. I've never, well, fit in with the other women here, but they turned even worse when Inuyasha told Miroku to tell me to attend you."  
  
"The stupid jerk probably did that on purpose," Kagome said firmly, rapping the floor with her knuckles.  
  
"Nuh uh." Shippou swallowed his last bite and looked up at Kagome, wiping his mouth off on his sleeve. "They're all scared stiff of him, but Sango isn't. I bet he didn't want you talking to someone who'd tell you how scary he is all the time. I still don't see what that has to do with pillows, th—"  
  
"You could be right, Shippou-chan, though why he'd care what I think of him is beyond me." Kagome playfully tweaked his hair and he grinned up at her. "C'mon, let's go see what dog-boy's got for me." Shippou giggled and hopped onto her shoulder as she stood up. Sango smiled gratefully at her as she passed, and Kagome mouthed a 'No problem.' Besides, she was more curious about what Inuyasha had for her now.  
  
It turned out she wasn't the only one: Sango led her out into the courtyard, which was covered with a light blanket of snow and thronged with servants. Sango had only to clear her throat loudly, and the crowd melted away before them to reveal none other than the battered Higurashi family Bug and a large pile of familiar-looking things heaped on...  
  
"My bed?!" Kagome trotted forward, not caring that she was still dressed in an underkimono—at least she could move with some freedom. Shippou hopped down and ran up to the stairs' railing to watch.  
  
Sango kicked herself for forgetting to change Kagome's kimono before they left the room. She was never going to hear the end of this. "That is where you sleep, correct? Kirara picked up your scent on it and we couldn't find any futons, so..."  
  
"Yeah, it is my bed...and my stuff!" Kagome rifled through piles of clothes, books, her battered Discman and CDs... "This is great! How'd you get it all?"  
  
"We have our ways," Sango replied evasively, and Kagome filed that with everything else she had to grill her and Shippou about later: for now, she had just remembered that the souvenirs were still in the car.  
  
To the amazement of all watching, Kagome put her things down, went to the Bug and opened one door, almost immediately straining to hold the gargantuan TV box upright as it tumbled out. "Little help?" she wheezed, and three of the braver men jumped forward to grab it and wrestle it to the ground before ascertaining that it would not attack further. _Well, that explains dog-breath's orders to get my dad's stuff, too.  
_  
"This..." Kagome addressed the crowd and thumped the hood. "...is an automobile. A car. It's a kind of carriage that works by Western magic, if you wanna put it like that. It won't hurt you as long as you don't try to move it or touch anything but the doors and seats."  
  
Everyone backed away even further. Kagome sighed. "Fine. I've got it." Only when she started unloading it herself did Sango and two others come forward to insist upon letting them do it; Kagome directed them to stack the DVD player, PlayStation bundles, laptop, and then the dresses in their plastic bags all atop the TV box.  
  
_Now what?_ Kagome wondered, watching the women edge closer to feel the bags' material and marvel at the strange markings. "Er...I know the car was probably hard to get over here..." Kirara leapt to Sango's shoulder and mewed. "Thanks," Kagome called to her, noticing claw marks around the doorframes where the cat must've gripped it. "Well, I know it was hard to move, so maybe we can keep it here and just take these back to the shrine? They belong to my family, not me." She indicated the pile atop the TV.  
  
"You four."  
  
Inuyasha's authoritative bark from the top of the stairs brought everyone's heads around. He pierced the four men closest to the car with a glare each. "Gather all those...things...and bring them to the Lady's room."  
  
Kagome was too upset to laugh at his phrasing. "These aren't mine! I have no right to keep them!" she yelled up at him, moving aside as the men carefully lifted the box and began crab-walking towards the steps.  
  
"If your precious family was willing to let you die in exchange for their own peace, they should be willing to spare you some of their own junk," he snapped.  
  
"And who was it that made them make that decision in the first place?" But he was already gone, back into the castle. "Lazy-ass jerk," she muttered, ignoring the servants nearest her. No doubt they all thought she was a bona fide weirdo now anyway.  
  
But Sango appeared at her elbow and politely hustled her back into the castle, listening in sympathy – if not in total understanding – as Kagome fumed about Inuyasha's order. "What does he think I can do with all those electronics and no electricity? Honestly, they were all looking forward to getting these, too. Even if we did have some kind of power source, I couldn't surf the 'Net or watch DVDs in here! He's such an idiot!"  
  
"I think he was just trying to make it up to you, Kagome-san," Sango began. "He—"  
  
"Just call me Kagome, okay, Sango?"  
  
Sango sighed. "All right, Kagome," she tried again, ushering Kagome into another room while the men puffed towards hers with all the boxes precariously balanced atop the heavy TV. "I know he created a poor impression last night, but he really isn't such a terrible person as he looks...or sounds."  
  
"Or acts, or smells, or says, or—"  
  
"Right." Sango shook her head. "No! All I mean is..." She trailed off, trying to think of something, anything to convey her point, and failing miserably.  
  
"Could you run and grab some of my clothes, please?" Kagome asked, fingering her sleeve. "That way you won't have to help me with this nice stuff."  
  
"Inuyasha ordered us to supply you everything you needed," Sango said dubiously, opening a shoji and pulling out a lovely orange kimono.  
  
"And I need some comfy clothes. Please?"  
  
Sango sighed and gave up. "Fine. One minute, please."  
  
The second the shoji slid shut behind her, it popped back open and Miroku bowed deeply. "Good morning, Kagome-sama. I trust all is well with you?"  
  
She frowned at him curiously. "How did you do that?"  
  
"Never mind that." Miroku glanced behind him and dropped his voice. "How has Sango been?"  
  
"Fine, I think," Kagome replied, even more curious now. "Why?"  
  
"You know that Sango is not an ordinary servant, correct?" At her nod, Miroku edged closer to her and spoke even more quietly. "Good. Without meaning to presume, I must ask that you be kind to her, even more so than you undoubtedly are to those of us who are not Inuyasha."  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked, more interested by his tone and the nervous glances he sent over his shoulder than what he was saying.  
  
"I mean..." Miroku inhaled deeply, then let it out short. "If she starts complaining to Inuyasha or if she simply decides to quit – which I doubt, but one never knows – then my head will be stuck on a post near the gate faster than one can blink. Inuyasha made it very clear that keeping both you ladies happy is my very personal responsibility."  
  
Kagome snorted. "If you want to keep Sango happy, just shut the women servants up." Miroku's eyebrows lifted in curious interest, but she went on. "And if he wants to try to make me 'happy' for some hidden, sadistic reason, he can just stay away from me as much as possible. Tell him that for me, would ya?"  
  
The sound of Sango's footsteps drew Miroku away from Kagome and slightly back. Kagome turned to face Sango, accepting a set of folded jeans, sweater, underwear and a few shirts, along with apologies on the ignorance of her selection...and didn't notice how close Miroku had gotten to Sango till she saw his face go innocently blank and heard the other woman shriek.  
  
**BAM** went Sango's fist on the monk's cheek, and Kagome dealt him a kick to the ankle for good measure. "You pervert!"  
  
Miroku backed away a safe distance, holding both hands up. "Now, now, ladies, I was only trying to express my support of your—"  
  
"Get OUT!" Sango grabbed his staff, used his automatically renewed grip to swing him around, and gave a mighty shove that sent him flying out of the room. "And don't come back! FOREVER!" she bellowed after him, slamming the shoji closed.  
  
"Wow," Kagome said slowly, taking the chance to change into fresh clothes from the skin out while Sango glared after him. "That was pretty impressive. Where'd you learn to do that?"  
  
"My father," she snarled, punching her left fist into her open right palm. "I could knock a grown human out when I was seven years old."  
  
"Wow," Kagome repeated, buttoning up her sweater and pulling on her jeans. Sango turned to watch as she tugged them all the way on and zipped up. "You don't usually wear a kimono for that, do you?"  
  
Sango laughed, a short but easy sound that Kagome was glad to hear. "Good gods, no. I have battle gear that looks a bit like your clothing."  
  
Kagome yawned and scratched her stomach through the sweater. "I'd love to hear about it."  
  
"Really?" Sango looked bewildered and a little pleased. "Why?"  
  
"Well, there are no 'demon slayers' in this era," Kagome replied. "Probably because there are no demons." She beckoned Sango to follow her. "Come with me and show me the castle. We can walk and talk."  
  
Thus Kagome spent the bulk of her first evening at the castle: she wandered around and gaped at the various displays – jewelry, paintings, armor, weapons, kimonos, and more – while Sango filled her in on certain key points that the curse did not prohibit her from explaining. "I came here about five months...before..." Kagome nodded her understanding: five months before the curse. "Well, I came in search of a demon called Naraku who had taken something valuable from our village. When my brother and I arrived here, we had heard from a reliable source that Naraku had allied himself with the young lord of this castle, and..." Sango paused, drawing Kagome's attention away from a jeweled katana sheath. The slayer looked distinctly embarrassed. "I confronted Inuyasha, and he admitted that the object Naraku stole was here, so I attacked him."  
  
Kagome gaped at her. "And you're still alive?"  
  
"He wasn't"  
  
Kagome's jaw dropped: Sango was speaking, but after the second word, no sound was coming out.  
  
Sango realized it a moment later and stopped. After about fifteen long seconds, she spoke again. "That was something I wasn't allowed to tell. And that, by the way, is what happens when we try. And that's what will happen if you ask me anything too direct. It's _very_ annoying after a while; we discovered it the last time we awoke and we were discussing...what happened. So please save your questions for Inuyasha."  
  
"That's one helluva curse," Kagome said with awe, unaware how much like Akemi she sounded till she caught Sango looking at her oddly and laughed. "Sorry. That's where most of my speech to Inuyasha last night came from: my older sisters. Anything weird I say comes from my brothers. It balances out...somehow."  
  
"That's right, you have a large family?" Kagome nodded. "I'd love to hear about them."  
  
It was Kagome's turn to be surprised. "Why? Don't you have a brother?"  
  
Sango slapped her forehead. "Of course. I forgot to finish the story. Yes, I do, and when I challenged Inuyasha, we both fought and...lost." She grimaced. "Suffice to say that was bad enough, but then we discovered that the object was here fairly."  
  
"Really? What kind of object was it?" Kagome wanted to know.  
  
Sango shook her head. "That's about as forbidden as I could get. Same thing with how it got here. Naraku didn't give it up, though. And the bastard was destroyed, too. Good riddance to him."  
  
"You said Naraku was a demon...is Inu—no, wait, you can't tell me."  
  
"Correct, I cannot."  
  
"Dammit. Well, is Shippou one?"  
  
"Yes, he's a kitsune. Kirara's a fire-cat, and there are a few more demons hanging around this place." Sango vaguely indicated the rest of the castle with the wave of a hand. "To finish my story, we lost, heard the truth, accepted it and then received word from our father to remain here and assist Inuyasha. You see, the object retrieved from Naraku had...a tendency to attract demons, and though the houshi-sama was here to use his powers, muscle and skill were sufficient to take care of most of the demons that attacked. It was not long after that that, well..."  
  
"So you were here to help Inuyasha out, then. Well, where's your brother?"  
  
"He's not awake yet," Sango said ruefully. "I tried last night, and he's just not ready to wake up. It takes longer for the spell to wear off for different people."  
  
Now Kagome was dying of curiosity. "What if I write a bunch of questions down and then you answer them on paper?"  
  
"We've tried that," Sango admitted. "Our hands, arms, or whatever else we hold the brush with seize up and won't move for an hour or so after we try so much as writing a name."  
  
"Geez. Whoever put down the curse must've been a monster." Kagome made a face. "Not even outside the castle?"  
  
"We can only stay within a certain distance of it at all, and the curse is maintained fully within that area," Sango answered wearily. "Inuyasha can manipulate...things, I can't specify...very, very slightly within that range; I think he sent your father back to your shrine instantly yesterday doing something similar. It's almost like a kind of magic the curse-wielder left him to keep us from being disturbed."  
  
_Good God, was it just yesterday morning?_ "And you used that weird power to get my bed and stuff out of the shrine?"  
  
"A bit of it, yes. He can lend it out in small doses, carried in certain objects. It ran out before we could get that metal creature here, though, so Kirara had to carry it."  
  
"Weird. Very weird." And frustrating as hell, but what was there to do for it? Nothing. "Let's go get some lunch, shall we?"  
  
They returned to Kagome's room with food and admired the way someone (probably Inuyasha) had managed to fit her narrow but relatively large bed into the little room without damaging anything, and the boxes were stacked neatly in the corner with the rest of her things. Shippou zeroed in on the smell of food, and Miroku soon joined them after promising to stay well away from both women. He faithfully did so till he got up to leave, at which time he only missed Sango's rear by virtue of the slayer's quick suspicion and quicker reflexes, and thus left with another bruise on the other cheek.  
  
The meal itself was fairly pleasant, though. Kagome pressed Miroku for details he was permitted to relate, and the monk willingly described how he had been brought to the castle at an early age after his father died and a curse in his hand developed.  
  
"The Kazaana is a void, a wind tunnel that the men of my family are cursed with," Miroku told Kagome in response to her questions. "A demon called Naraku inflicted it upon my grandfather, who like my father died by being sucked into his own hand. Every year, the winds get stronger."  
  
"If we could find...the object Naraku had..." Sango nodded urgently at Miroku. "Then you could break the curse, houshi-sama."  
  
"Do you know what they mean, Shippou?" Kagome asked the kit hopefully. He shook his head.  
  
Miroku also shook his head, heavily. "I tell you, Sango-sama, if it didn't close when Naraku died, it will never—"  
  
"Stop that!" she snapped with such ferocity that the monk fell silent. He fingered the heavy blue beads around his glove from time to time as he ate, though, and the atmosphere grew a bit morbid till he brightly asked Kagome if she would be willing to do him a favor.  
  
"Don't you dare!" Sango and Shippou yelled in perfect unison, the former holding a bowl and ready to fling it.  
  
"My, my." Miroku held his hands up in a guileless shrug. "I merely wanted to know if she wanted the last of her fish."  
  
Kagome knew she was missing something, but somehow, it just didn't seem wise to ask.  
  
"There's little else to tell," Miroku finished. "I trained here and helped to defend the castle until..." And he also had to trail off.

* * *

After lunch, the two women made another round of the second floor. This time it was Kagome's turn to share stories about her family, and she made certain to think of only the best ones. Worried as she was about her brothers and dad, she had to admit she already felt a little better about her captivity, knowing that Inuyasha was not only not going to eat her, but seemed to be trying to suck up for some reason. Even better, she hadn't seen him since his appearance that morning—she might go the whole rest of the day Inu-free!  
  
Sharing stories about making home movies with her older brothers helped, too, even if her listener didn't quite understand and she had to say they were enacting their own plays for fun.  
  
"So here I am, seven years old, puny as an ant and trying to hold the camera steady," Kagome told Sango, both women idly swinging their legs over the side of a high rail on the second floor. "Yusaku has the most ridiculous dummy set up—it's a sort of puppet that's supposed to look like a normal human. He's supposed to run at it with a baseball bat – a long club made of metal – and pretend to whack its head off." Sango nodded dubiously. "Yes, it was stupid. We were all young.  
  
"I get the camera ready to record the images, I yell for him to go, and he charges up the hill, takes a huge swing, and misses by a mile—" Sango chuckled at that mental picture.  
  
"Oh, no, no, no. _Then_ the bat goes flying out of his hands—" Kagome swung her whole torso around to illustrate, and Sango sputtered at Kagome's reenactment of her horrified seven-year-old self's reaction: wide eyes, wrinkled nose and round o mouth.  
  
"The bat goes flying into a neighbor's yard, hits an old tree, and a huge dead branch cracks off and hits the fence. So then the _fence_ breaks – the wood was rotten anyway – and the dog in that yard is so scared that it runs right into the next yard, where a famous artist had just spread his paintings to dry in the sun. The dog sees them, squats right on 'em, and..."  
  
"Oh, no," Sango protested, gasping for air by this point. "You can't be serious!"  
  
Kagome was also laughing too hard to stay upright. "Of course not! How can you be serious when you're seven and cranky old Kimura-san's million-yen art has dog pee-pee all over it because of you?!"  
  
When they recovered enough to speak again, Sango wheezed out, "You...get in trouble?"  
  
"N...I got lucky," Kagome gasped. "Was only seven...and he sold paintings for...half million more...to some nut who liked the patterns!"  
  
It was a good five minutes before either of them were able to draw a deep breath without starting up again. "I'm g-glad you had such an entert- taining childhood," Sango giggled. She hadn't laughed that hard in several years, as far as she could remember. "I hope this lasts you..."  
  
Something wary and cautiously optimistic in Sango's tone drained most of the hilarity right out of Kagome's system. "Why, what's gonna happen?" she asked, still smiling but on edge.  
  
"I didn't tell you yet..." Sango wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "You're gonna have dinner with Inuyasha."  
  
"WHAT?!" Kagome leaped to her feet, then promptly doubled over and slowly sank back down. Her abdomen hadn't recovered from its workout yet. "Sangoo! I don't wanna eat with him!"  
  
"I know, Kagome, and I'm sorry, but it's either that or you don't eat dinner at all," Sango said apologetically, and groaned at Kagome's bright smile. "You can't skip dinner every night, Kagome!"  
  
"Every night?! That cheating bastard!" Kagome's indignation overcame her pain, and she started pacing. "Why does he wanna eat with me? He didn't like me any more than I liked him!"  
  
Sango cursed her need to stay quiet, not for the first or last time. "It's about time now, Kagome. Come on. Just eat quickly and try to hold your temper and you'll be fine."  
  
Kagome sulkily got up and followed Sango, muttering vague threats about baseball bats and dogs all the way.

* * *

"Good evening" were the only words out of his mouth as Sango showed Kagome in.  
  
Kagome knelt, blinked at him and cautiously returned the greeting. The food was already laid out, and she sipped at her tea hesitantly. Inuyasha was wearing the same red as last night...and this morning, come to think of it...and eyed her modern outfit with idle curiosity, but nothing more.  
  
"So. What'd you do today?"  
  
Blink. Kagome squinted at him a moment, analyzing for any sarcasm, boredom, sneering...none detected yet. Just polite, detached interest. Weird.  
  
"Uh...Sango showed me around the castle and we talked," Kagome said lamely. When he declined to make any comment, she coughed. "I know it sounds stupid, but if I'm going to be staying here, I might as well be able to get around. And she's a really nice person. I'm glad you insisted she look after me."  
  
Inuyasha raised a single black eyebrow, and she decided she might actually get used to that face if he kept this up. Not getting my hopes up, of course... "Yeah, it was a good idea," he drawled, helping himself to more salmon sushi. "'Course, Miroku came up with it in the first place..."  
  
"He WHAT?" Kagome nearly dropped her chopsticks. "He said you were gonna kill him if Sango didn't do it!"  
  
Inuyasha stared at her blankly. "Wha? I just agreed when he said Sango would be a good choice. None of the other servants like her, so she won't get distracted or ditch you, and she can protect you from any demons that might wander in."  
  
_So much for our theories on his sensitivity!_ "There are no demons in this era," she said evenly, careful not to sound aggravated or otherwise set him off. Just eat and run. _Eat and run._  
  
His nose twitched. "What're you getting mad for? I didn't do anything."  
  
"Exactly." Kagome turned her attention to her food, vowing to kill Miroku and then beat the truth out of him with Sango's help after dinner. In that order.  
  
"And there are too demons in this era," Inuyasha went on, darting a glance at her over the edge of his bowl. "You can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there."  
  
"Of course. Just like germs and aliens," she replied absently, contemplating her options. _Maybe a eunuch? He'd probably rather be a corpse, knowing him, even for just a day...Sango said he's usually worse.  
_  
Inuyasha scowled at her. "Fine. You wanna get ripped apart because you weren't paying attention, see if I care."  
  
"So are you a demon?" The question popped out before she could apply any brainpower to it. She froze, then glanced up at him. Was it just her, or were his eyes redder?  
  
"Sorry," she said humbly, just as he opened his mouth. "That was rude. Kinda like asking your weight...except you probably don't know yours. So I guess that'd be even more rude to ask, then, huh? Sorry."  
  
Inuyasha had a small frown, but not nearly the size of the one he'd had before she apologized. "Singing a different tune now, wench? That's good. " He returned to his food, and she gritted her teeth. _Eat and run._  
  
"I'm hanyou," he said suddenly.  
  
"Excuse me?" Kagome glanced up. Inuyasha was looking anywhere but at her.  
  
"I said I'm hanyou. Half breed. Only half demon." Now he looked up, almost defiantly.  
  
"Cool!" Kagome grinned, her first genuine one in his presence, and he was taken aback.  
  
"What the hell does that mean?" he asked, a little gruffly.  
  
"It means I approve," she said cheerfully. "You say it like I'd say 'leper' or 'pervert' or 'Miroku' or something, but there's nothing wrong with it. One of my best friends in elementary was biracial."  
  
Inuyasha's ears drooped slightly, and he glared down at his bowl. "I'm glad it amuses you so much, but I doubt your _friend_ thought it was so much fun. And he didn't have dog ears, did he?"  
  
Kagome sobered quickly. "I know, and I didn't mean to make fun of you. She had a tough time, too. People were so stupid about it...first like it was her fault, and then that there was something to be at fault for. Made me sick." She tapped her chin thoughtfully with one chopstick end. "Well, pity won't help, so enough of that for you. And for the record..." She got an idea and crossed her eyes at him. "I happen to like your ears. They're cute. So there." Wow. It was true, too. Even better.  
  
"You're stupid, then. Or insane. Or both." Now Inuyasha was the one trying to clean his food up first. Kagome would've been extremely pissed if she hadn't caught a faint flush of pink under his cheekbones in the dim light. She would've rubbed her hands together with glee if he hadn't been watching her: he was blushing! He did have a weakness, then! Nothing like telling 'em they're cute to make 'em squirm, as Akemi had probably said within her hearing once. It sounded like something she'd say, anyway. And the pink and purple combination...  
  
Kagome was still plotting various ways to make him squirm when he stood up gracefully and coughed, folding his hands into his sleeves. "Gotta ask you something before I go to sleep every night," he mumbled, face averted.  
  
Shaken out of her reverie by his obvious embarrassment, Kagome could only frown and shrug. "All right...what is it?"  
  
Inuyasha took a very deep breath, let it out, and glared at the wall. "Willyoumarryme?"  
  
Kagome's brain stopped. Then it sputtered, turned over, and started up again. "What?!"  
  
Inuyasha pressed the heel of his right hand against his forehead. "Look, just answer yes or no. I'm not making fun of you or anything. Just humor me and be honest."  
  
His torment was so plain that she did just that. "No, Inuyasha, I will not."  
  
"All right, then. Good night." Inuyasha bowed stiffly, turned on his heel and almost ran from the room.  
  
Well.  
  
Nothing to do now but go to sleep, right?  
  
...  
  
Kagome got up very quietly and walked peacefully down to her room, where Sango had spread a futon next to the bed and was curled up on her side, dozing. Still in a daze, Kagome reached down and pinched her nostrils shut.  
  
_Snerrrrk_ "Ouch! Hey!" Sango flailed her way back up, glaring at Kagome. "If I were really asleep, I might've broken your arm! Be more careful next time!"  
  
"Sango." The older woman started at Kagome's perfectly flat tone. "I think we need to talk."  
  
"Talk...?" Sango edged away. "And why would that be?"  
  
"I dunno..." Kagome ran a hand through her loose black hair. "I just thought it might be nice if you knew why Inuyasha just proposed to me or anything."  
  
Sango gulped and shuffled further away. It was going to be a _long_ night.

* * *

A/N: Not quite the way I wanted it, but ah, well. I'm writing under a more severe lack of sleep than usual. So if this chapter seems subpar, sue me and see how many pennies you get. :'D I have no money.  
  
Oh, and quick note...if Kagome's story seemed a little weird, that would be because it's a compilation of two actual childhood memories of yours truly, though seeing my brother miss that wild swing was actually way funnier than the dog peeing...go figure. Mysteries of life.

Speaking of which, couple more characters enter the picture next chap, and a bit of action, too. Ta-da. Gonna upload and sleep now...ah, lack of school... :D


	4. Rude Awakening

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters in this story. Even the ones I made up...they're just servants and her dad. They're no fun. So I completely disclaim ownership. I'm generous like that.  
  
A/N: Back again with more for y'all. Your reviews all make me feel smug and complac—I mean, wonderfully enthusiastic about having undertaken what is shaping up to be a long fic, and as I said, I have nothing better to do for a few weeks, so away we go. (Just kidding about the complacency...I tend to go to the other extreme, actually. --;;) And watch for a bit of PG-13 cursing...hence the rating. Yep. Just in case.

* * *

**Beast**  
  
**Chapter 4  
**  
Sango fiddled with her hands, tapping her callused fingers restlessly on her folded legs. "About the...er...proposal..."  
  
Kagome was perched on the edge of her bed at Sango's request, a reasonable distance away but close enough to loom over her and make her nervous. "What about it?"  
  
"...I can't tell you." Sango threw a hand up and rushed to speak at Kagome's murderous expression. "Wait! I don't even know why he did! I can guess, but that's about all! Don't take it out on me!"  
  
"What do you mean, you don't know?!" Kagome squeaked, almost incoherent with embarrassment and frustration. "You were here when they laid the curse down, right?"  
  
Sango paused, choosing her words carefully. "I was...but I don't know all the specifics. I would imagine several terms were only conveyed to Inuyasha."  
  
"Daaaaaaaaaaah!" Kagome flopped onto her pillow. "This _sucks!"_ She eyed Sango resentfully. "And you can't tell me how to get rid of the curse, either?"  
  
Oh, to be able to speak...Sango hadn't been sure before, as she'd missed a few explanations centuries ago thanks to a cold that'd kept her in bed right before the curse struck (that had been an interesting day, to say the least), and no one was able to fill her in now. But after this, she was quite certain she knew exactly how the curse was supposed to be broken.  
  
"No, I can't," was all she answered, willing herself not to laugh. This wasn't going to be interesting: this was going to be downright entertaining. _Assuming she...hmmmmm._ Maybe she should hope she was wrong, because she had no clue how it could happen at this point, and if it didn't happen—  
  
"I'd think it was some kind of weird mind game," Kagome was saying as Sango contemplated the whole castle's fate. "But you should've seen him. He was about to sink into the floor. If I ever meet the guy who cursed you all and thought to make him ask that, I dunno if I would want to pound him or shake his hand. Maybe both."  
  
She flipped onto her stomach and scooted to the edge. "Say, I don't know if this is kosher, but...is the curser person or demon or whatever in the castle now?"  
  
Sango started, then closed her eyes and willed her heart to slow down. "No."  
  
"Right." Kagome watched her closely as she opened her eyes and rolled over. "That reminds me, I was wondering something about Kirara." Sango turned her head towards her, but didn't meet her eyes. "The first time she got a good look at me, she acted like she knew me and she started growling, but then she stopped and acted like she'd made a stupid mistake."  
  
"How do you know that?" Sango asked, amused despite her growing uneasiness.  
  
Kagome snorted. "I've known a lot of cats, and they _all_ act the same way. They know when they do something dumb – like the time my cat fell off the TV – and they all try to play it off the same way. So why was she even growling at me in the first place?"  
  
"I can't tell you," Sango said quietly, cursing Kagome's perceptiveness.  
  
Kagome scowled at Sango's back, then suddenly laughed and clapped her hands. "This is like reverse 20 Questions! I only know something is important if you don't answer." Amused, she sat up on her bed and began rummaging through her things. "What are the odds you guys found my toothbrush?...Oh, wow!"  
  
Sango raised her head and watched Kagome pull out an old pink miniature brush. "Kirara went through the whole house as your family slept and picked out whatever smelled most strongly of you, including that. She wanted to chew on it, too. What is it?"  
  
"You use it to clean your teeth. Thanks for keeping her mouth off it." Kagome searched in vain for some toothpaste. "Assuming she didn't take a shot at it before she brought it out...I hope."  
  
"I'm sorry I can't tell you anything." Sango stared at her hands. "I hate keeping you in the dark, but..."  
  
"Don't apologize. You can't help it." Kagome impulsively swooped down and gave her a quick hug around the shoulders. "You've been really helpful already, and I'm glad you're here."  
  
Unused to platonic physical contact, Sango was too surprised to respond for a second. In the brief interval of silence, Kagome also remembered a few key points about Sango that Inuyasha's question had placed on the back burner...and suddenly decided to keep them to herself for now. She could always use a little leverage against Miroku, and if he didn't have an _excellent_ reason for lying to them...!  
  
Sango recovered and awkwardly patted Kagome's arm, smiling as something occurred to her. "You know, Shippou's not the only one besides Inuyasha that the curse doesn't apply to. I could point someone out to you tomorrow if you like."  
  
"Would you?" Kagome grinned and clapped her hands rapidly in a burst of excitement. "I'd love that! Thanks!"  
  
"He might not be awake yet," Sango cautioned. "And it might be difficult to find him, just keep that in mind. And he may not want to talk to you."  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes. "I have all the time in the world, Sango. I'll find him, _and_ I'll talk to him, I'm telling you now."  
  
Sango decided not to pursue that subject. "We should go to sleep now, Kagome. With the mood Inuyasha's in, the snow's going to be pretty heavy tomorrow."  
  
"Really? I was wondering why it was snowing outside," Kagome remarked, wishing her room had a window. "I mean, it's already spring, and it wasn't snowing when I got here, but this morning the ground was all white."  
  
"It depends on Inuyasha...as does everything else," Sango muttered.  
  
Kagome sensed another taboo and sighed, and Sango quickly changed the subject: "So you never got in trouble for the dog urine on the paintings? Did you ever do anything else similar?"  
  
As Sango 'helped' Kagome change into her PJs, watched her climb into her strange bed and blew out the few candles that lit the room, she listened to yet another story: this one was about a time Nabiki, Akemi and Ataru moved all her toys onto the roof at Christmas and told her Santa had stolen them because she was such a bad girl.  
  
It's a well-known principle that two friends – as they had already become in the space of their day together – cannot just go to sleep when the lights go out and both can still talk. Thus Kagome's accompanying explanations and lead-in to more Christmas stories took quite a while, and by the time the two women finished giggling and drifted off to sleep, it was nearly dawn.

* * *

Barely two hours later, they simultaneously twitched awake at a distant crack. "Mmmm...someone's gonna have to pay for that," Kagome mumbled into her pillow.  
  
"No," Sango groaned, listening to the wind howl outside. "No, no, no, not yet..."  
  
"Wha?" Kagome turned her head, but the boxes next to her bed obstructed her view of the futon and its occupant. "What wazzat?"  
  
Sango sighed deeply as she pushed herself into a sitting position and scrubbed at her eyes with her sleeve. "The other person who's not unner the curse..." She yawned, then jumped a mile as Kagome leapt out of bed and grabbed her forearm.  
  
"Come on!" Kagome didn't wait for Sango; she stumbled out of the room towards the sounds of not-so-distant scuffling, cursing and crashing, and saw a throng of servants much like the one from yesterday morning standing around the main hall. Most looked nervous and scuttled out of her way, but continued watching as a white and red figure pulled itself out of a hole in the wall, cursing fluently all the way.  
  
Kagome scrubbed at her eyes. Yep, that was Inuyasha, and that was a blur of brown and black coming at him. And yep, it had just knocked him right back into the hole from whence he came.  
  
"You're still slow as a damn rock, dog-turd," the brown-and-black called. Now that it stood still, Kagome saw that it was also a young man, black hair in a long ponytail and held back at the forehead with a furred brown band. The band matched his clothes, dressed as he was in blue breastplate and kilt-like brown fur, which also adorned his shoulders, arms, and calves. Definitely a demon by his pointed ears and swishing brown tail, but if Shippou was a fox, this guy was most undeniably a wolf. "Looks ain't everything after all, eh?"  
  
"Rot in hell, you flea-bitten piece of...!" Inuyasha launched himself at the wolf demon and narrowly missed as his opponent ducked, swung his knee in a vicious arc and smashed into Inuyasha's gut, then tripped him and knocked him into the floor before Kagome's jaw had finished dropping.  
  
"They're at it already?" Sango appeared behind Kagome and sighed in exasperation as Inuyasha pretended exhaustion, grabbed the demon as he came closer to taunt him, and made yet another hole in the now-pocked wall with the wolf's head. "I know they hate each other, but did they have to start the moment Kouga woke up?"  
  
"That's Kouga? The one who—" Both women instantly dropped to the floor as Inuyasha went flying in their direction, flipping to land on his feet, panting heavily.  
  
"What's the matter, dog-turd?" Kouga smirked and rotated his shoulder experimentally. "Hiding behind your women? We all know how much they mean to you, after all!"  
  
Snarling an incoherent mishmash of foul words, Inuyasha leapt right back over their heads, and Kagome got to her feet slowly as the two traded rapid barrages of kicks, parries and swipes to each other's heads.  
  
No one, not even Sango, was prepared moments later for an earsplitting shriek, least of all the two combatants. _"If you two don't stop this moronic crap right this second, I'll rip your heads off and stuff 'em down each other's necks!"_  
  
Inuyasha and Kouga froze, each with a clawed hand raised, and looked over at Kagome, who was breathing heavily. She marched up to the pair, and, to the servants' quiet amusement and horror, swatted each of their arms down, nodded curtly and turned to go back to her room.  
  
"Where the hell do you think you're going?!" Inuyasha yelled after her, taking a few steps in her direction.  
  
Kagome whirled back around just in time to see Kouga shove Inuyasha head- first back into the floor and stalk over to her, ice-blue eyes narrowing as he stopped a scant two feet away and towered over her. "And who the frickin' hell are you?" he demanded, leaning in closer. His eyes widened, then narrowed again as he snarled. "I know you! You look just like that bitch that dog-t—"  
  
If he hadn't been paying attention, Inuyasha's sudden blow to the back of his head would've sent Kouga flying right into Kagome; as it was, the hanyou's fist glanced off and the wolf stumbled nearly on her. He rounded on Inuyasha with another snarl. "Dammit, dog-turd, that was l—!"  
  
And Kagome sent him sprawling, dropping her shoulder and ramming him in the back so that he lost his balance, went down and got tangled in Inuyasha's legs, tripping him up as well. "You idiots, you could kill someone like this!" she yelled at them, not caring that she had only knocked them down by surprise and they were both staring at her in surely short-lived amazement. "If you're going to wake up the whole damn castle and make us get up to watch your stupid testosterone match, then do it outside and don't break anything that doesn't belong to you! Including the castle!" She stabbed a finger at the damage to the floors and walls. "Or _me!_ If I _ever_ have to get up after less than three hours of sleep and risk getting killed because of you again, I'll skin you both and turn you into a sleeping bag! Good night!"  
  
Heedless of both men still gawking at her and of the servants openly laughing at them, Kagome grabbed Sango's arm and pulled her back to the room with her, silently daring either of them to come after her right now—she didn't know _what_ she'd do, but it would be even more violent than her threats!  
  
"You really shouldn't have done that," Sango chastised her about ten minutes later, having just sneaked out to get their breakfasts, endured all sorts of questions from the kitchen helpers and returned without seeing anyone in the main hall except a few servants inspecting the walls, which had been repaired with a wave of their lord's clawed and bruised hand. "Inuyasha wouldn't hurt you, but Kouga's not as reasonable as he is."  
  
"Inuyasha? Reasonable?" Kagome was still angry at having her sleep interrupted and at Inuyasha's complete lack of consideration for her safety—especially after his nerve last night! The fact that he'd been compelled to ask was speedily brushed aside, and she began to eat in the conviction that she'd acted justly. _Geez, I've been more violent in the past two days than in the past five years!  
_  
But she'd had reason, of course. And it did feel pretty nice to be able to let it out, knowing she wasn't going to stick around and had no reason to put up with anything. _Especially not arbitrary sleep deprivation._ Sleep had always been important to her, and its loss without good reason was inexcusable. Never mind that she shouldn't have stayed up so late...  
  
"Kouga is a prince of an important branch of the wolf demon tribe," Sango said cautiously towards the end of the meal, when the feral gleam in Kagome's eyes had dimmed a bit. "He was here on a diplomatic mission and got caught the way Shippou did."  
  
"Which means he should know a lot more about the curse than Shippou?" Kagome almost dropped her bowl at Sango's nod. "Do you think he'd tell me anything?" She winced, squeezing her eyes shut in sudden agony. "...After the way I threatened to shove his head down Inuyasha's neck?"  
  
Sango sighed. "I tried to warn you."  
  
Kagome put her head in her hands. "I knew there was a reason I usually don't get mad at everything...and when I do, I never scream about it." She parted her fingers and glared at Sango through them. "It's Inuyasha, I tell you. Just being around him makes me want to hurt something."  
  
"Well, nothing to do but try to repair the damage," Sango said tactfully, clearing the dishes away. "What would you like to do today?"  
  
"Hmmmm." Kagome pressed her lips together. "You're right. I have a mission. First, I'm gonna need a bath. Then I need your help with one of those fancy kimonos..."

* * *

It took Kagome nearly an hour of wandering around with Sango and smiling at nervous-looking servants to reassure them when she asked after Lord Kouga to find the wolf demon. He was lounging on a balcony on the second floor, squinting up at a single window and the only one on the third and highest floor. Sango bowed, whispered, "Good luck," and glided rapidly away.  
  
Deep breath of bitingly cold air...another for good measure...and she was off, ignoring the cold seeping through her thick tabi socks and indoor slippers, not to mention her lungs. Sango had selected a light blue wool kimono that mercifully kept her warm.  
  
"Hello, Kouga-sama," she said respectfully, bowing to his broad back.  
  
"The hell do you want, wench?" He turned just enough to glare at her, and Kagome noticed two things: one, he was actually somewhat attractive, and two, his tone reminded her of Inuyasha's—but was different somehow. She couldn't quite pinpoint it.  
  
Not that it didn't also piss her off.  
  
"I wanted to apologize for my rudeness earlier," she replied evenly, and he sneered at her and looked back over the rail at the snow-silent courtyard.  
  
"Pretty, isn't it?" Kagome ventured, wandering closer.  
  
"Go away."  
  
Kagome's eyebrow twitched. "I repeat, I'm sorry for what I said...and did. And I was wondering if you could tell me what happened when—"  
  
"Piss off," he said curtly, arms crossed.  
  
That did it. "Look, Kouga-_sama_, I apologized! You're the only one I can ask, and if you don't tell me, I'm gonna go nuts! Just answer a couple of questions and I'll leave you alone for the rest of the time I'm here!" she pleaded.  
  
"And how long do you think that'll be?" Kouga shot back, favoring her with a glare. "I know dog-turd, unfortunately, and you're not going anywhere any time soon. So you might as well just leave now before you piss me off any more."  
  
"Just one question?" Kagome locked eyes with him.  
  
He scowled, then shuddered. "Stop that, dammit! Get out of here!"  
  
"Fine!" she snapped, backing up and turning to go inside. "I swear, you're as bad as Inuyasha!"  
  
Kouga was in front of her and grasping her right upper arm before she could blink. "Take that back, wench."  
  
"Piss off," she said curtly, tugging vainly at her arm.  
  
His fingers tightened painfully, and she glared at him. "That hurts!"  
  
"Good! Now take it back before I break it!"  
  
"I'll take it back if you apologize!" she spat, leaning as far away from him as possible.  
  
Kouga growled and pulled her closer, nails almost puncturing the kimono's sleeve. "One more chance."  
  
"Bite me." Kagome didn't think about that one, but he stopped and looked at her blankly, confused by the choice of words and flippant tone. She was beginning to wonder if he'd take her up on it when he released her and threw back his head, laughing and slapping one thigh.  
  
"You're a rare one," he chuckled, pinching her chin and earning another swat to the hand. "Nothing like that cold bitch, that's for sure. I think I like you."  
  
"I'm so glad." Kagome rubbed her arm and backed out of his reach. Condescending prick! "Wait—who? You mean the person I look like?"  
  
Kouga winked and suddenly leapt to the railing, balancing on the narrow length with a few bare toes. "Now, where'd the fun be in that? If you don't know, I shouldn't tell you just yet. We're hardly even acquainted." He bowed mockingly, and she seethed: this castle was full of jerks! "Maybe if you're good, my Lady. Till then!" And he did a neat backflip right off the railing, darting across the courtyard and into the woods in a blur as she watched.  
  
Well, that was hardly informative...or was it? She stopped on the threshold to ponder his words. She'd already figured out she looked like someone everyone knew, and judging by Kirara's reaction and Kouga's words, it was someone not everyone liked, or had liked—"that cold bitch" would certainly indicate at least one negative opinion. And if that person were still around, she would probably know it by now.  
  
Miroku and Sango...well, they could've felt the same way, or maybe the opposite, but she strongly doubted they'd be able to tell her. Inuyasha was a puzzle in that respect, too: from the way he'd looked at her at first, her clone had to have been important to him. _Very_ important.  
  
_Hs wife, maybe?_ He'd certainly reacted strongly enough, and though he was barely older than Kagome, she reminded herself that marrying age for nobility had been a lot lower back then...whenever 'then' was. Maybe the wife had died and everyone had hated her except Inuyasha...or everyone except maybe Kouga and Kirara had liked her and Kagome's resemblance just freaked them out?  
  
But either way, where was she now? _Did whoever put the curse down kill her?_ That would make sense. Anyone strong and evil enough to lay down a spell like that wouldn't mind killing Inuyasha's wife to make him even more miserable. And then making him ask some random girl to marry him every night, reminding him of that loss...!  
  
Indignation and pity swelled up inside Kagome, and she had to remind herself sternly that this was Inuyasha she was thinking of, ignoring a little voice that told her maybe he only acted that way because of what he'd been through. He'd said himself that people weren't exactly understanding of his appearance and heritage in the first place: heap the curse on that, and...  
  
She shook her head. No, Inuyasha had not been forced to bring her here and then treat her like an unwelcome guest, or to fight and destroy his own home and wake everyone up at the crack of dawn, when people were trying to sleep!  
  
That was enough of that for now. Kagome hmphed and stepped inside.  
  
"How did it go?" Sango asked, getting up from her kneeling position on the floor.  
  
"Did Inuyasha ever have a wife?"  
  
Kagome watched Sango keenly. The other woman's eyes grew wide, and she was obviously surprised. But she was able to recover momentarily, and she shook her head decisively. "No, he didn't, and if Kouga told you so, he was lying."  
  
"He didn't. I was just wondering." _Crap!_ There went all her theories.  
  
Well, some of them, at least. Maybe it was his fiancee, or just someone he'd been in love with. She'd have to suck up to Kouga and find out later. The very thought irritated her, but if she played her cards right, she might actually get some answers for once. _And I don't have to eat dinner with him, either,_ she thought in satisfaction.  
  
"Let's go outside," she said aloud. "That snow's just begging to be played in."

* * *

But when they went out, Kagome discovered that her kimono made bending, running and kneeling in the snow impractical, and she reluctantly gave up on the idea till she could change. "I have another idea," Sango reassured her, beckoning her towards a set of small pavilions set near the castle's side.  
  
They found Shippou tugging at a boomerang longer than either of the women were tall, as it had just fallen on the ground. "I'm sorry, Sango," the kit panted, pulling at one tasseled strap near the end with all his might. "It just fell over."  
  
"That's all right," she reassured him, leaning down and hefting the weapon with ease. "This is my Hiraikotsu, my favorite weapon. Stand behind me, Kagome, and watch this."  
  
Kagome obediently backed up and watched as Sango took a running step and flung the heavy boomerang out what had to be hundreds of feet. It arced up in a neat circle and veered back towards them. Kagome gave an "Eep!" and ducked behind a stack of barrels as it headed straight for where they were standing—then gaped as Sango easily caught it and swung it around to her back, dispelling its momentum. She began to applaud, and Shippou copied her as Sango looked at her and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"That was awesome!" Kagome emerged and hopped onto the sturdiest-looking top barrel. "Do it again!"  
  
Amused, Sango complied and sent it even further before it swung back their way, and she plucked it out of the air and twirled it back into position without breaking a sweat.  
  
"Cool! Could you teach me?" Kagome came up to inspect the boomerang closer.  
  
Sango smiled and held it out politely. "Try holding it first."  
  
Even with the slayer holding the middle just in case, Hiraikotsu came dangerously close to squashing Kagome as she tried to hold it upright by herself. "Ye gods! This thing weighs more than twice my little brother!" she gasped, gladly letting Sango relieve her of it and marveling at her easy handling.  
  
"Maybe something else..." Kagome wandered inside a nearby shed, the lock of which had long since rusted off through exposure to the elements. There were rows of spears, a few so-so katanas, and... "Hey, what about this?" She emerged from the shed holding a long bow and a heavy quiver of arrows, holding them up for Sango's inspection.  
  
The slayer's eyes widened. "Those are..." She smiled, a bit sadly. "That would be perfect. Let me set up a target and I'll teach you to shoot."  
  
To Kagome's delight and Sango's enthusiastic praise, Kagome was a natural. She had to admit it just felt...right, somehow, to be holding the bow, even if her arm still ached where the wolf demon had grabbed her earlier.  
  
"Feet braced firmly, but don't lock your knees..." Sango nudged Kagome's ankles into position and straightened her left arm, holding the bow upright. "Now, take the arrow by the fletching, the feathers, put it up with the notch against the string...perfect. Grasp it with these three fingers..." She demonstrated. "Good. Now draw it back to your ear, and a little further if you can...you can, very good...now take a deep breath...and as you exhale, let go of the arrow."  
  
Kagome complied, and to both their delight, she struck the human-shaped straw right on the lower abdomen. "And I didn't even teach you how to aim yet!" Sango clapped her on the shoulder, grinning. "You're very good, Kagome-chan."  
  
"It was luck," Kagome said modestly, flushing a little at the praise and affection. "It's almost like an extension of my arm. I just wanted the arrow to go straight."  
  
"That's the idea," Sango conceded, still smiling. "Now, let's work on your aim a bit and practice standing more."  
  
After about five more minutes of nonstop shooting, the quiver was exhausted and so were Kagome's arms. "It's time for lunch anyway," Sango said as Kagome lowered the bow, panting slightly. It was a lot harder to hold it up and keep drawing it back than to just do so once.  
  
Shippou was their only company for lunch today; nor did Miroku, Inuyasha or Kouga show themselves after the trio went back out for a bit more target practice before dinner. As a result, both Kagome and Sango were in high spirits, and Kagome ignored the dull ache in her arm and insisted upon more archery practice.  
  
"This is boring," Shippou protested after her third break, watching clouds gather in the previously overcast but light grey sky. He brightened. "I know!"  
  
The women watched as he sprang off the barrels and ran about thirty yards out into the snow, busily piling up drifts. They looked at each other, then back at Shippou in curiosity as he scooped, shoveled and sculpted one pile about two feet tall, slightly above his head. "Try shooting this one," he shouted, backing away and batting snow out of his tail.  
  
Kagome frowned, trying to make sense of the lump's weird features, but Sango sputtered, "Shippou! Take that down! What if he sees it?"  
  
It was then that she recognized two bumps atop the snow-thing's head as triangular ears and burst out laughing. "Shippou-chan, you are a _genius_!"  
  
Shippou grinned toothily, so pleased by the compliment that he hopped into another drift and started the process again. Neither could make this one out till he ran to the edge of the woods, grabbed a stick and ran back to place it in the lump's right hand. "There's his staff!"  
  
"That one's mine!" Sango said instantly, and Kagome had to concede that she had the right.  
  
Last, Shippou made an extremely crude Kouga, and once they were done laughing at his angry snow face, Kagome made him come over so she could fuss over Shippou, tickle him and then keep him out of harm's way as she 'practiced.'  
  
Saving the best for last, Kagome first took aim at Kouga, released and shattered him dead center, right below the waist.  
  
Well, that was enough to put all three of them out of action for a few minutes; when they stopped laughing and looked back over at the snowy wolf demon, they saw that his face had survived but was creased into an even bigger and more comical scowl than ever, resting right above where the shaft of the arrow stuck out.  
  
Kagome had no idea she could've laughed any harder, but laugh they all did, for quite a while. She had to send Shippou to retrieve the arrow and destroy the evidence before they could stop and calm down.  
  
Next was Sango's turn. Wiping a few last tears from her eyes without smudging the magenta eyeliner she always wore as a mark of her trade, she took careful aim, fired and struck the twig right out of his hand. Before they could console her on the miss, she took another arrow and neatly clipped the stubby right snow arm off before demolishing it through the torso with a third shot.  
  
"Wow," Kagome said respectfully as Shippou cheered. "And here I was getting so proud of myself and my lucky aim."  
  
"As you should be," Sango replied, handing the bow back over. "Now for the last one."  
  
Shippou giggled, and Kagome winked at him as she placed her feet apart and selected an arrow. "Let's see how I do with this one..."  
  
But as she fired, she flinched slightly at a sudden feeling of misgiving, and then yelped as the string slapped her on the inside of her right forearm. "Oh, no," Sango exclaimed, grabbing Kagome's arm lightly and turning it over to see an angry red swelling already rising on the pale flesh. "That happens sometimes, Kagome-chan. Here."  
  
Wincing, Kagome looked over at the last snow pile as Shippou offered Sango some snow and the slayer gratefully accepted, applying it gingerly to the forming bruise. The arrow was stuck upright in the snow less than an inch away from it; suddenly, the caricature didn't seem so funny anymore.  
  
The injury wasn't serious, of course, but it did put a damper on their fun, and it stung so much when any fabric touched it that Kagome put her own clothes back on before dinner and rolled up her sweater sleeve, deciding the cold was tolerable in comparison to the incessant stinging. Of course, when she bunched the sleeve around her upper arm, Kouga's finger marks began to throb, and she had to push it all the way to her shoulder. _There, problem solved._

* * *

"What the hell happened to you?"  
  
And a new one created, as Inuyasha's red eyes instantly found the mark on her arm as she knelt at the little dinner table.  
  
"I was practicing with the bow and the string got me," she answered, carefully lifting her chopsticks and ignoring the way her arm throbbed at the slight movement.  
  
Inuyasha's ears flattened against his head. "The bow?"  
  
"Yeah," she mumbled, wincing at his tone. "Is something wrong with that?"  
  
He grunted, picking up his own utensils while still watching her. "If you're that clumsy, you should've worn a guard, you know."  
  
"No, I didn't know," Kagome snapped. "And I'm suffering for my stupidity. I hope that makes you happy."  
  
After the question last night, the fight this morning, and Shippou's snowman, she could hardly look him in the face, she was suddenly so embarrassed. He continued watching her till she grew irritated and looked up at him. "What?"  
  
"Don't yell at _me_ 'cause Sango screwed up," he said irritably, ears twitching. "Next time, borrow one of those stupid prissy things the wimpy wolf wears on his arms."  
  
"Why would I do that?" she asked warily, catching an undercurrent in his tone.  
  
"I can smell him on you somewhere, okay?" Inuyasha chose that moment to go back to his meal.  
  
His attention was promptly reclaimed by Kagome's left hand slamming her bowl on the table. "And you assume that after I screamed at both of you like some kind of PMSing, emotional freak, I took him aside and let him feel me up?! You—you—"  
  
"Well, if I'm wrong, why are you so mad? And why aren't you looking at me?" he countered.  
  
Kagome just stared at him. "You think I have a guilty conscience or something?" She hefted her right arm and traced the faint marks where Kouga had grabbed her. "Does this _look_ like I let that overbearing jerk touch me?"  
  
Inuyasha leaned in closer to see, and his expression clouded. "He did that without your permission?" She nodded shortly and shook her head frantically as he leapt to his feet and flung the shoji open. "Hey! Wait wait wait!"  
  
"What? Did you let him, or not?" Inuyasha snarled, glaring at her as if this were all her fault.  
  
"Of course not! But that doesn't mean you can go play Mighty Man again! Just sit down and finish eating!" she hissed, waving for him to sit down.  
  
"Fine! You're right. He's not worth interrupting my meal." Inuyasha plunked back down and resumed eating, muttering curses in between bites.  
  
"Honestly," Kagome muttered, sipping angrily at her tea. "As if I'd tell anyone, 'Yes, please grab my arm so hard that it leaves m—' Ow!"  
  
"Moron!" Inuyasha leapt to his feet again, stuck his silvery head out and bellowed, "_SANGO_!"  
  
Kagome was busy trying to soothe the burning sting on her arm where she'd accidentally let tea slop onto the wound, which Sango had insisted they leave uncovered till she could find the proper ingredients for a poultice. "This is why I wasn't looking at you," she said through clenched teeth.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"You're always trying to make me look like an idiot!" she snapped, cradling her arm closer as he leaned in to inspect it. "Letting Dad think I was gonna die, making fun of me for being here, telling me I should've done this or that, and asking me to—!"  
  
She bit her words off as her arm seared again. Inuyasha was mercifully quiet as Sango raced into the room, kimono flapping as she dropped to her knees and gently took hold of Kagome's arm with one hand, setting down a small basket in the other. "I'm sorry this took so long, Kagome-chan, but I had to ask old Kaede for the last of her bruise medicine," she said quietly, opening a little jug of cool water and dripping a bit onto the injury. Kagome willed herself not to flinch or show any pain: Inuyasha was watching her again.  
  
"Why the fuck does she have it in the first freakin' place?" Inuyasha growled at Sango without looking away from Kagome. "You probably got enough of that when you were first training."  
  
"I know," Sango said calmly, though she flushed angrily. "It was my fault. She was doing so well that it slipped my mind. Hold this, Kagome-chan."  
  
Kagome pressed her finger onto the pungent little bundle Sango had just placed on the bruise so the slayer could wrap it carefully with clean linen and then tie it off firmly. "Not too tight, is it?"  
  
"No, that's perfect," Kagome lied. Damn, that thing hurt for such a small injury.  
  
"What about the other one?" Inuyasha demanded. Sango looked at Kagome in surprise, which only increased when the latter shook her head and smilingly shooed her away so she could finish eating.  
  
"Thanks," Kagome said after Sango had left and awkward silence descended.  
  
"For what?" Inuyasha peered at her suspiciously around his sake cup.  
  
"For worrying about me," Kagome said patiently.  
  
He snorted in utter disgust. "Feh. Like I'd let that frickin' wolf damage my hostage. And Sango was just being stupid. You need to yell at her or something the next time she does that. You know you owe her one for letting you run around outside half-naked yesterday anyway."  
  
"For one thing, Sango is my friend, not my slave or my babysitter," Kagome said coldly, favoring him with a deadpan look that he couldn't quite meet. "And I was fully clothed, thank you, and actually comfortable for once here, so you can keep your advice to yourself!"  
  
"Whaddya mean, for once?" he protested. "I let you wear anything you want, and here you go parading around in your underwear and your own weird clothes like some kind of freak!"  
  
"You're calling _me_—" But she wouldn't go there, not even now. She could tell he was waiting for it, ready to snarl back. _Well, screw him!_ "For your information..." She dropped her voice back down to cold detachment. "I was fully clothed. Only one kimono instead of fifteen layers does not make me any more or less naked that if I were showing skin." Deep, calming breath. "And those are _my_ clothes, not 20-layer silk deathtraps, and you don't have to mince everywhere in _them_ like you would die if you took a bigger step than a tiptoe! Do you have any clue how uncomfortable an obi is? Huh? Ever thought of that? I know you never bothered to think about any of this, but try it for once! You of all people should know not to dump on something because you're not used to it!"  
  
That last bit struck home, if nothing else had, as he visibly flinched before smoothing his face out as much as he could. Only a light tic on the right stripe gave him away. "Shut up," he growled, but it didn't even faze her.  
  
"You really are a jerk," she pronounced, setting her empty rice bowl down with a soft clink. Curious about the reaction she'd gotten out of him, Kagome propped her chin up on her left fist and studied him absently as he finished eating.  
  
"Stop that," he growled, slight guilt making him feel even more irate.  
  
"Why?" she asked peacefully.  
  
"Because I don't like it," he mumbled. "Does it matter?"  
  
"If you don't like it, it does." And she deliberately turned her eyes on the table instead.  
  
"Would you stop that?" His snarl brought her head back up, this time in surprise. He really seemed angry now, and her brows knitted in confusion.  
  
"What's your problem?" She couldn't decide if he was being serious or not; a few seconds of Staring Match confirmed that he was. "What, did you think I was making fun of you or something?"  
  
"You scream at me twice, accuse me of making fun of you, tell me I'm ignorant, and then act like my feelings are important?" Inuyasha's voice rose. "What else am I supposed to think?"  
  
"That maybe I thought we'd misunderstood each other and I was trying to make up for it!" Kagome yelled, tears beginning to form despite her best efforts. "Excuse the hell out of me! If you want to keep pretending the world is against you, I can just keep yelling at you so you can feel sorry for yourself! Would that make you feel better?!"  
  
"No, it wouldn't!" he yelled back, trying desperately to ignore the glimmer of tears beginning to form in her eyes. He never won against a crying female, and he knew it.  
  
"Then what would?!" She sniffled angrily and swiped at her eyes. "Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at you, and maybe I should! It doesn't matter as long as you keep thinking that you're some kind of monster, playing the part and then getting indignant when people react like you are!"  
  
"I don't have to play the part!" he shouted without thinking, then hastily doubled back before she could seize the opportunity. "I mean, I could be a gods-damned saint, and my own servants would still look at me like I'll bite their heads off if they turn their backs!"  
  
"They look at you like that because you act like such a jerk!" Kagome retorted. "If you'd stop treating them like slaves and _let_ them see you're not a monster, they wouldn't be afraid of you!"  
  
"They've acted that way my entire life, wench, not just after I got landed with the fucking curse," Inuyasha grated, claws slowly curling wood off the floor as he scraped it. "Don't give me any 'inner beauty' shit, either. You can lecture me after you've lived my life for me, all over again. Till then, keep your damn mouth shut."  
  
"Have you ever eaten squirrel?"  
  
The query was so unexpected that he couldn't think of a reply...till his rage-clogged brain processed it incorrectly. "And here you've been—"  
  
"I'm not calling you a beast or a monster or anything! Just answer the damn question!" she yelled over him.  
  
Inuyasha began carving all sorts of patterns into the wood, knowing he could fix it instantly later, speaking with exaggerated calm. "No, I have not ever eaten those fluffy damned tree rats."  
  
"I have. Do you know why?"  
  
He gave her his best scowl. "Because you were bored? No, I don't know why!"  
  
"Because we had nothing else to eat!"  
  
That was unexpected. He grunted and began retracing swear words into the polished table. "So? What the hell is your point, if you have one?"  
  
She folded her arms. "I'm not competing for pity." Inuyasha snorted. "My point is that no one ever knows what anyone else's life is like, and there's no way they can, so trying to say your life is better or worse than mine for whatever reason is pointless!"  
  
"Save your moralizing, wench." He stared at the floor as her words soaked in. "Why couldn't you just say 'Quit whining' and save my time and your breath?"  
  
She laughed suddenly, and Inuyasha's heart felt funny for the briefest of seconds. _Damn indigestion._ "If I'd told you to quit whining," she said after a moment, "then we'd both be screaming at each other, I'd be crying, and you'd probably be making fun of me."  
  
"No, I wouldn't," he said before he could stop himself, and she blinked at him.  
  
"That may very well be true," Kagome admitted, running her left hand through her hair and noting that she needed to wash it. Too bad she shared shampoo with her sisters and Kirara probably hadn't grabbed the bottle. "No point in arguing about it now."  
  
"For once, you're right." Inuyasha got to his feet and folded his arms, strangely at peace despite their latest fight. After that first time, he'd been up most of the night dreaming up new insults for her, and last night he was so humiliated from fulfilling the curse's most basic requirement that he hadn't slept well, either. "Good night, Kagome." He faced his room and took another deep breath. _Ugh. Here goes again._ "Will you marry me?"  
  
No answer. The silence behind him was deafening, and as the seconds passed, his embarrassment heightened exponentially.  
  
"Dammit, wench, it's not a hard question." Inuyasha finally risked a look at her—and scowled. "What are you looking at?"  
  
"You never said my name before," she said quietly, a smile beginning to form. "That's all."  
  
"Yeah, that's great. Now answer me." He shifted back around, concentrating very hard on being grumpy.  
  
Kagome smirked at his back. She'd already caught him flushing again. "No, Inuyasha, I will not marry you."  
  
"Good night, then." He stalked away as fast as last night, but left his "hostage" smiling this time.

* * *

Sango was wise enough not to ask what had happened at dinner, so Kagome rewarded her after they blew the torches out by telling her the whole thing word for word, knowing Sango wouldn't breathe a word of it to anyone else in the castle. _As if it was a private conversation. We were yelling half of it.  
_  
"It sounds as if you certainly gave him something to think about," Sango commented once Kagome was done. "I wish the houshi-sama would sit still half that long for a serious conversation."  
  
"It was a fight, Sango-chan, not a serious conversation." Kagome sighed and rolled over in bed. "You wouldn't want to have to yell at Miroku-sama the way I've been screeching at Inuyasha. Now that I think about it, I probably have PMS or something."  
  
Sango made a questioning noise, and that brought the conversation to a whole new level, the specifics of which need not be related. But both women were drowsy from their lack of sleep and the day's excitement, and Sango drifted off after barely half an hour. Kagome took much longer, wondering irritably just how dense a guy could get; finally her mind tired of the subject, and she fell asleep wondering what Akemi and Nabiki had done with the space where her bed had been. _Probably rented it out to a rich yuppie looking for a weekend retreat._  
  
And with a final mental image of Inuyasha yelling at rich tourists to get off his property, Kagome closed her eyes and was fast asleep.

* * *

A/N: And there's another day. Man, it's only her second day and already things look nothing like the outline I made. Time to plan some more before I run out of outline to go by...till then, you guys rule. Be back soon with more Miroku! ;D  
  
(P.S. Getting whacked with a bowstring reeeeally hurts. If you don't know what I mean, don't try it.) 


	5. Snow and Steps

Disclaimer: I'm looking to own the third Inuyasha OST without buying a bootleg, but they're so expensive! $30 for a CD?! Stupid newfound principles! Ah, well...other than that, a few plushies and other merchandise, I don't own Inuyasha or any of Rumiko Takahashi's characters in any way, shape or form. Not mine. Hers.  
  
A/N: Only a week and a half left till I have to drive across the country and start working; I have absolutely no responsibilities besides breathing and eating till then, so I'll take further advantage and smite y'all with another chapter. Things get a leetle more adult, though it won't stay that way, and 'tis still PG-13. Here we go:

* * *

**Beast**  
  
**Chapter 5  
**  
For the first time since she'd arrived, Kagome awoke on her own, stretching sluggishly under her covers and listening to Sango's soft breathing and light, shuffling footsteps over her head. One hand flopped out to grab her watch, and she squinted at the fluorescent display: 11:24. Time to get up...about two hours ago. Whoops.  
  
Well, they'd needed the rest, of course. It looked like Sango wasn't getting up yet, either, so Kagome leisurely got out of bed, stretched some more, scratched in a most undignified manner and changed into more of her clothes. On an impulse, she slipped into some clingy black leggings for warmth, tugged some loose jeans on over it and also layered her favorite black denim vest over a long-sleeved maroon blouse. Thankfully, she'd been almost done growing when they lost their money, so most of her old clothes still fit, if a little tight across the chest. _Not as if anyone 'cept maybe Miroku would let me catch them noticing.  
_  
That reminded her: she had an appointment to talk to the monk, and with Sango still down for the count, here was the perfect opportunity. Kagome stepped over the slayer quietly and crept towards the main hall. Now, if she could just find him without anyone n—  
  
"My, Kagome-sama, whatever are you doing up so late? Too much sleep is bad for the skin," a woman clucked in her ear, scaring her half to death.  
  
"Such lovely skin it is, too," another servant said wistfully from her other side, and not much farther away. Kagome vaguely felt as if she'd walked into a trap: it was almost like they'd been lying in wait!  
  
"Whatever in the world is Sango-san doing? And where is she?" The first woman scrunched her stubby nose and shook her head firmly. "She should be attending my Lady, not lying abed, no matter what the reason."  
  
"Indeed," the second woman sighed, trying for a patient expression and looking more like she'd just swallowed something pointy. "Inuyasha-sama is perfectly in his rights to demand her time, but she mustn't fulfill her duties one hour and then claim she's too tired the next."  
  
"I gave her permission to sleep in," Kagome said sharply, forestalling her first attacker's sad agreement. "I find Sango perfectly satisfactory, and I'd appreciate a little less yakking in my ear when I've just gotten up. Is that clear?"  
  
"Yes, Kagome-sama," both servants murmured, bowing deeply, faces unreadable.  
  
"Good. Now, where's the houshi-sama at this time of day?" Kagome's stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, and the women promptly forgot their momentary chastisement.  
  
"I'll fetch Kagome-sama something to eat before she goes faint," Snub-Nose said to her friend, who nodded as the first woman rushed off.  
  
"Come this way, and I can assist you to bathe and find clothing more suitable to your station." The servant bowed, then whirled around almost without unbending and set off at a rapid pace. Kagome gaped after her, took a few steps to follow, and then stopped.  
  
"I don't think so," she said coldly. The servant, almost halfway down the entrance hall, shuffled to a halt, realized that Kagome was standing still, and came back with thinly disguised annoyance.  
  
"My Lady must have misheard me," she said impatiently. "I must ask that—"  
  
"No, you must not have heard _me_." Kagome put her hands on her hips, straightening her back and reminding herself that as a 'lady,' she didn't have to take any crap from the servants; if they were going to pull this on her this soon, all the better if she played the part and made some things clear now._ Let's see if I can do it without screaming at them..._  
  
She kept her voice low and even, but strong, perfectly audible even to the first woman as she approached with breakfast and stopped a few yards away. "For one thing, I like to bathe at night, not in the mornings. And these are my clothes, as I have already explained to your master, and I will wear them if I want to. For another thing, I don't like stupid gossip about your fellow servants, especially not in a situation like this."  
  
Kagome was gratified but not fooled as the woman lowered her eyes and bowed her head. "If you want to think like that, it's your choice," she continued, glancing at the other servant, whose resentful stare dropped into a similar attitude. "But if I hear any more of it, either to my face or if you keep harassing Sango, I'm going straight to Inuyasha, and we'll just see what he says about it. Do you understand?"  
  
At the mention of the lord's name, both servants went pale, and they dropped to their knees, making it very clear that they were sorry and would not dream of displeasing the Lady again.  
  
Kagome softened her tone just a bit, knowing any outright apology would be interpreted as weakness. "Good. I'd hate to have to bother him with this, and it's too petty for you to have to face him because of it."  
  
She eyed the breakfast tray longingly, but decided with a sigh that Miroku came first. The chagrin made lying politely that much easier. "I know you two were acting in my defense, but I would prefer that you spend your time working for your master and let Sango worry about me till I decide she's not doing her job, or until Inuyasha removes her." They looked momentarily and positively gleeful at that, and Kagome made a mental note to tell Inuyasha not to believe anything he didn't see or hear personally. "You're dismissed."  
  
"Thank you, Kagome-sama," they sing-songed in unison, gliding off towards the kitchen with the tray and whispering urgently. Kagome ignored their giggles and patted herself on the back: she'd already discovered the only threat she needed to keep them out of her hair and hopefully out of Sango's business.  
  
Then it occurred to her that she still had no clue where Miroku was, and she ceased patting in favor of kicking. _I had them right where I wanted them, and I forgot! Damn!  
_  
The castle was way too big for her to just wander around blindly. Beyond this entrance hall was another hall, and probably another judging from the size of the second floor. Sango hadn't taken her over much of the third floor yet, and she hadn't paid much attention to the rest of the first because it was mainly guest rooms, smaller meeting rooms, kitchens and baths. Short of wandering around and asking random servants or – God forbid – trying to find Inuyasha and ask _him_, Kagome had no clue how she was going to locate Miroku without Sango.  
  
Maybe she should just tell Sango and leave the monk to her mercy...but her curiosity was at it again, and she knew Sango would suspect something if Kagome insisted upon being left alone with the lech. So now what?  
  
"Kagome!" Like a furry cannonball, Shippou launched himself straight at her head out of nowhere, and she muffled a gasp as she caught him: her arm, which had been quiescent as she got up and dressed, suddenly twinged painfully.  
  
"Hey, Shippou-chan," she panted, letting him settle down on her shoulder.  
  
"It's been forever since you were supposed to wake up," he said in her ear, mercifully quiet out of respect for their proximity. "Inuyasha was getting really mad."  
  
She frowned at him. "Why would he get mad about that?"  
  
Shippou's eyes widened. "Uh...no reason. Say, where's Sango?"  
  
"Still asleep. Say, is there any way you could tell me where Miroku is?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"Right here, Kagome-sama," the monk said from behind her, and she jumped back with a shriek.  
  
"What is it with people coming at me today?!" Kagome griped, one hand to her heart.  
  
"Such unusual beauty as yours must naturally attract attention wherever it goes," he said smoothly, eyeing her 'heart' and the curves around it with keen interest. "And speaking of which, where's Sango-sama this lovely noon?"  
  
"She's asleep, and I have to talk to you before she wakes up," Kagome said firmly, drawing his appreciative gaze upwards.  
  
Miroku raised his eyebrows. "Is there anything wrong, Kagome-sama?"  
  
"You'll have to tell me." Kagome gently dislodged Shippou and set him on the floor. "Can you do me a favor, Shippou-chan?"  
  
"Want me to stand guard and distract her if she wakes up?" the kit suggested.  
  
Kagome grinned and ruffled his hair. "That's exactly it!" He batted her hands away, pretending indignation, then grinned back up at her. "It shouldn't take long, Shippou-chan. I'll have something for you when we're done."  
  
The little boy brightened up even more. "Yaaaay!" He practically flew to the shoji and bowed with exaggerated grace. "You can count on me, milady!"  
  
"Good boy!" Kagome clapped, then fixed Miroku with a look. "Now, where's some place we can talk in private? And you're walking ahead of me."  
  
Miroku pulled a mournful face, sighed and set off across the hall. "Follow me, Kagome-sama." This wasn't going to be much fun.

* * *

"Why did you lie?"  
  
Miroku gulped, scooting away from her as much as the stuffy room's scant space would allow. "I beg your pardon, Kagome-sama?"  
  
"You told Sango Inuyasha would kill you if she didn't agree to take care of me, and he distinctly told me that it was actually your idea in the first place!" Kagome folded her arms, and her Look grew darker. Miroku half expected flames to start licking the air around her at any second.  
  
"Well, I may have stretched the matter a bit," Miroku admitted, giving her the best smile he could manage under the circumstances. It didn't make so much as a dent. "But I did not lie. Inuyasha would in fact have been very annoyed if Sango-sama had refused and I had had to procure ano—"  
  
"I hardly think that justifies the way you manipulated both of us, and especially Sango!" Kagome snapped. "And what if I hadn't turned out to be a semi-sane adult? What if I'd really been some spoiled kid who made her life hell? What would've happened then?"  
  
"Then I would have suggested one of the servants who speak so freely about her in the kitchens be permitted to relieve her of her duties," Miroku replied, calm returning gradually. She was angry, but it wasn't the homicidal rage they'd all witnessed yesterday, and like the servants, he could tell the difference.  
  
"So you found out what they're saying?" Kagome asked, wary of changing the subject but suddenly curious.  
  
Miroku nodded gravely. "Even worse than I'd suspected. If I may be so bold..."  
  
She waited, expecting the worst.  
  
"I would like to express my appreciation of your befriending her. You've been better for her than I'd hoped when I first spoke to Inuyasha about it." Miroku smiled, sadness touching his eyes for the first time, and bowed deeply from the waist.  
  
"Eh?" Kagome frowned at him. "What do you mean?" She'd guessed it was some kind of trick designed to amuse Miroku and possibly Inuyasha once he figured it out.  
  
"Well..." Miroku shifted very subtly, and she noticed his acute discomfort as he tried to decide just how honest he should be. "Sango is not here of her own choosing," the monk said finally. "She didn't deserve to get stuck here under the curse any more than we did—even less than we did, I'd say. Without her little brother for company, she's been very lonely, and he isn't with her constantly even when awake. I was hoping that perhaps another female, even a child, would ease her sense of isolation, and she'd be able to help the child with her own fear and loneliness." Miroku's eyes had gone distant, darkened to near midnight blue and fixed on his bead- wrapped hand. "I'm sure you've noticed that Sango is remarkably strong, both within and without, but to assume she's any different from a normal woman, needs company and acceptance any less, is grossly unfair. I apologize for my dishonesty in pushing her to accept you...I knew it was wrong, but..." His voice sunk to a whisper. "All I wanted was to take a chance at making her happy." Miroku raised his eyes to hers, and for just a moment, as with Inuyasha, Kagome could almost feel his pain, a well of feeling deeper than any flippancy or lechery could hide forever. "Do you understand, Kagome-sama?"  
  
"I think so," she whispered, feeling no small amount of distress herself. "I'm so sorry I misjudged you, Miroku-sama. Please forgive me." She bowed her head.  
  
Miroku broke the tension with a light chuckle. "No, no, there is nothing to forgive."  
  
Very distantly, Kagome heard a faint shout. _That sounded like Shippou..._  
  
"After all," Miroku went on merrily, so intent on lightening the mood that he failed to notice rapid footsteps outside, "I did lie to you and Sango- sama to your faces on more than one occ—"  
  
A chill wind seemed to sweep the room. Kagome groaned and placed her hand over her eyes as Miroku hunched defensively and turned to look behind him. Sango had quietly slid the shoji open, having just heard him through its paper thinness.  
  
"Sango-s-sama," he stuttered, leaping gracefully to his feet and holding his staff out in appeal, ready to block if the need arose. "I was just saying that—"  
  
Two heartbeats later, the monk was laid out cold, a lump made with his own staff swelling rapidly on the side of his head. Sango threw it down next to him and eyed Kagome, breathing heavily. "He lied, did he?'  
  
Kagome sighed. "Yeah, he did." But it seemed unfair to tell Sango everything she'd just heard—that was the kind of thing the slayer needed to hear from him directly. "D'you mind if we go get something to eat? I'm starving."  
  
Contriteness overcame anger, and Sango massaged her temples slowly. "Gods, I'm sorry, Kagome-chan. I didn't think about that. Please follow me and we'll have some br—lunch."  
  
Aside from the very general specifics of how Miroku had lied to them, Kagome declined to discuss the incident further. She distracted both Sango and Shippou after lunch by digging through her things and giving Shippou one of her own favorites, a strawberry lollipop. Once he understood what the thing was for, the kit happily settled down to watch Kagome open a bottle of aspirin and explain its purpose to Sango.  
  
"They help make headaches go away if you swallow two of them whole." She demonstrated, catching them and flipping them forward with her tongue to keep them from going down at the last second. "With my family, I always had to keep some of this handy. They take a while to work, but anything's better than nothing."  
  
Sango got two capsules down with only three tries and felt the effects after only ten or so minutes. "That's remarkable. I wish I'd had some of that growing up!"  
  
"You can have as much as you like," Kagome offered, tossing her another full bottle. "It's cheap, and you can get it anywhere."  
  
"Thank you." Sango smiled and slipped the bottle into her kimono. "Are you sure you won't need it yourself?"  
  
"Not when I'm here." Kagome snorted. "Half-breeds and demons fighting are nothing compared to my sisters when it's that time of the month and we run out of chocolate ice cream. That's a kind of cold, sweet mush you eat to feel better."  
  
"You must miss your family, though," Shippou commented sadly, having just finished his lollipop by chewing it off the stick with his tiny but effective fangs.  
  
Kagome hesitated. She did worry about how they were doing, but Sango had mentioned earlier that Inuyasha had returned the Bug last night, so they had the car back. The family was probably surviving, if not running too smoothly without her, but Kagome almost relished the thought of Nabiki and Akemi finally forced to pull their weight without her to pick up after them. _No way the boys would ever do it. They're almost as lazy as those two are!_ And she had already caught herself forgetting the shrine every now and then, enjoying the castle's deep quiet, spending entire days with no responsibilities but to talk with her first friend since their move and eat dinner with a jerk who was, well, no fun to be around, not to mention cursed, but it could've been worse. He could've eaten _her_, after all. "I do," she answered slowly. "But this isn't the nightmare I'd imagined it would be." She rummaged through a bag and produced another sucker, which the kit immediately seized and attacked with childlike ferocity.  
  
"I'm glad to hear that." Sango smiled at her, then beckoned her to come closer. "Let's see how your arm is doing, now."  
  
It was healing nicely, and aside from the stress of catching Shippou, none of her use of it had hurt her thus far today. "Very good," Sango said, rebinding it. "It should be mended by the time Kaede has more medicine for it created. Not much surprise she ran out, considering how Inuyasha looked after yesterday morning."  
  
Kagome couldn't help a smile. "Oh?"  
  
"Mmmm. He couldn't move at all for a good portion of the day. He's terrible at hiding these things, but he was still fine by the time you saw him."  
  
"Wow. Oh, that's right..." Kagome scratched under the bandage. "What does he do during the day?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Sango answered thoughtfully. "The houshi-sama would know." She sniffed and knelt with a thump. "I don't know when he'll wake, of course."  
  
Kagome deemed it wise to let that subject drop. "I think I'll clean the rest of this up." Sango followed her gaze to the haphazard piles atop the boxes. "It's too cold today to go out, but if we do this now, we can play tomorrow. How does that sound?" she asked Shippou, who nodded eagerly and had to be pulled feet-first out of his nosedive into her clothes.  
  
"You'll be a bigger help if we start," Sango assured him, setting him down on the bed. "Now, where shall we begin?"

* * *

They were almost done by the time Sango escorted Kagome to Inuyasha's room. "I'll finish with the last two trunks," Sango whispered, pushing her forward gently. "Good luck."  
  
Kagome was glad Sango had been able to tell her about the weather: the heavy, sullen clouds and biting cold that'd howled around the castle all day were perfectly mirrored in Inuyasha's sullen, striped countenance. "Took you long enough," he muttered.  
  
"We were cleaning." She'd wondered if the almost-okay end of their last conversation would put him in a friendlier mood tonight.  
  
That idea went straight down the crapper. "What the hell do you mean, you were cleaning?" Inuyasha glared at her as though she'd said she was sacrificing small children. "That's what the servants are for, wench!"  
  
"They don't know any of my stuff, what it is or how to put it up. They could've broken something," Kagome pointed out, eating faster in hopes that they could get this over with quicker somehow tonight. She was pleasantly worn out, but the good tiredness could easily turn into crankiness the way this jerk was going.  
  
"Do you have any clue what it looks like for my hostage to be doing her own cleaning like some kind of servant?" Inuyasha toyed with his food, for once not shoveling it between glances or pretending not to eat and sneaking bites.  
  
"What do you care what it looks like? You're in charge," she snapped. His plan to humiliate her seemed to have been forgotten; now it was more convenient for her to be a guest and not lift a finger without complete necessity!  
  
"That's not the damn point! My point is, you're supposed to have the maids take care of your crap, not you!" He jabbed his chopsticks directly at her, and she seethed for a few seconds before willing herself to calm down.  
  
"I'm not used to having servants, okay?" Kagome also found herself pushing her rice around and forced herself to eat. "Sango did help me, and Shippou. Either way, there's nothing wrong with being able to take care of yourself."  
  
"There _is_ a problem with not knowing when to take care of yourself and when to sit back and let someone else do their job," he shot back. "You're not slaving away in that little dump with six other people anymore. Just try to remember that, okay?"  
  
_That_ hurt, worse than anything else he could've said. Her knuckles went white around her bowl and utensils. "Don't you ever suggest I lowered myself by taking care of my family," she hissed, trying and nearly succeeding in glaring holes into his bloody eyes. "I don't care how lazy or greedy or dense they are sometimes, they are _my_ family, and we have a _thousand_ times more honor than any vulgar, spoiled, whining, selfish, insensitive, thickheaded, violent noble pig who doesn't know if he wants his hostage to act like dirt or royalty! Whichever one you can use at the moment to bitch at me, I guess!"  
  
"What the _fuck_ is your problem?" Inuyasha had also gone rigid, spurred by rage rolling off her in nose-stinging waves. "I take you in, I let you do whatever you want, have whatever you want, eat whatever—and you still compare me to that precious _family_ of yours back there? They let you work like a dog for them! And then they sent you off to die at the first sign of trouble, and you turn on me and make them into _saints_ when I treat you as well as I know how! Don't think I wasn't listening when your idiot sire started talking in his sleep!"  
  
_"Stop calling him that!"_ Kagome didn't realize she was crying till a drop spattered on her hands. She touched her face in surprise to find tracks rapidly forming down both sides of her face.  
  
Inuyasha's ears were laid back, and he shook his head wildly. "All right, dammit, I will. Just stop cr—"  
  
"Shut _up_!" He backed away further as her eyes hardened, tears still brimming but not spilling over. "I don't give a rat's ass what they did! And for your information, I only came because Kirara took off too fast for my dad and brother to pull me back down! They did _not_ shove me off here and then party because they were all safe! Your treating me _decently_ was all I would expect of _anyone_ after the way you took me away from them! And how do you call being mocked, ridiculed and imprisoned _decent_?"  
  
"Don't give me that, bitch! In case you haven't noticed, you started it, not me, and any time you want me to stop, you can just keep your own damn mouth shut! And your prison is the finest building you've probably ever had the chance to gawk at, so don't pretend you hate it here!"  
  
"_I_ started it, Monsieur Took-You-Long-Enough, Why-Were-You-Cleaning, Why-Don't-You-Treat-The-Servants-Like-Toys-That-Only-Exist-For-Your-Own-Amusement? And that was just tonight! Why should I sit here and let you insult me?!" She took several gulps of air in the vain hope that it would calm her down. "And has it ever occurred to you that being stuck in a moldy old castle and hostage to a wishy-washy jerk-off with a God complex is not something I'd be grateful for? That _anyone_ would be grateful for?"  
  
"And do you think I _want_ you here?" he yelled right back, hurling his bowl at the wall and vaporizing the rice paper. Neither knew how far it flew before shattering: they were locked in another glaring match, and his weakness at her tears was long gone. "If it were up to me, the last thing I'd have hanging around my home would be a whiny, ungrateful bitch with _your face_!"  
  
All the breath went out of Kagome's lungs. Her mouth fell open, and a dry hand seemed to be squeezing her chest from the inside, but the sickening impact of his words, the hatred behind them, left her more numb than hurt. Her eyes were completely dry.  
  
It took Inuyasha a minute to realize she wasn't responding, and another to backtrack and realize just what he'd said. He swallowed hard, red eyes wide with guilt and alarm. "K-Kagome, I didn't...I didn't mean it th—"  
  
"Shut up," she said automatically, groping for the floor to push herself to her feet. "I'm going home now."  
  
"No! Kagome, wait!" He darted in front of her, blocking her attempts to move past him without touching her. "Kagome, I didn't mean it!"  
  
"You didn't mean it?" Kagome stared at him, her voice flat. "You _didn't mean it?"_  
  
"No! I didn't mean it the way you think I did!" Some of the feeling returned to her eyes, and Inuyasha braced his feet, waiting for her to slap him, scream at him, punish him somehow and make him feel better for having crossed one line too many.  
  
Punish him, she did. As he watched helplessly, she slowly shook her head, sank to the floor, and began to sob.  
  
"No! Kagome, _please_ don't cry!" This was worse than anything he'd ever heard. She was not sniffling lightly, or wailing, or being loud or demanding attention in any way. In fact she almost seemed to curl on herself, burying her head in tight-drawn arms to muffle the sound of deep, biting sobs that made her whole body shudder and tore at him with each breath she took. As her control failed and she began to cry harder, Inuyasha suddenly realized what it was that made it sound so heart- wrenching: even with his demonic ears, and though she'd gotten louder, he could barely hear her. If he'd been in another room and not paying attention, the sound would've completely escaped his notice.  
  
"I can't hear you," he said roughly, trying to cover the sudden urge to touch her somehow...hold her, let her dry her face off, he didn't know what. He did know he had no clue how he was supposed to fix this, or how to react to the vibes he was getting.  
  
_Idiot. As if she'd calm down with your filthy hands on her.  
_  
That niggling little voice effectively squashed the notion of brushing her hair back as his hand had been about to do; Inuyasha snatched it back and tried again with the only weapon he'd ever had: anger. If he could reach her any way, that would be it. With all the effort he could put in it, he tamped down on his weaker instincts and snapped at her: "Oi, wench! If you're gonna cry, make it count!"  
  
Her head snapped up, and she stared at him with so much incredulous surprise that he knew she'd been unaware of his existence for a minute there. "I can barely hear you," he said quietly, looking away from her puffy, reddened brown eyes before his cover was blown. "If you're trying to let some feeling off, let it off. I'm not such a prick that I'd make fun of you for it."  
  
"Just everything else!" Kagome rasped, wiping her eyes angrily on her sleeve. "I can't believe you—" And she was off again, but louder, angrier sobs that he could almost ignore. Almost.  
  
"I know, I know, I'm a complete asshole," he said quietly, pulling the table towards her and sliding his tea forward. "Here, drink it before you choke and I have to clean you up."  
  
"Rot in hell." She sniffled, but was so parched and congested that she made no other argument, reached over and downed the expensive stuff in one searing gulp. A quick turn with a linen napkin took care of her nose, though it disgusted Inuyasha so much that she shakily burst out laughing at the expression on his face: mouth gaping, one eye wide and the other almost squinted shut.  
  
"That's just..." He dove away as she pretended to throw it to him. "_Gods_, wench, don't do that!"  
  
Kagome laughed harder, only stopping to cough and blow one more time before folding it very carefully. "Sorry. I agree. It was just really bad."  
  
"It's okay," he muttered, so quietly that she almost missed it. Inuyasha's head had drooped almost to his knees, and her rage at him ebbed away. He was obviously sorry, and his next statement just confirmed another point. "Pathetic. Not even the wimpy wolf goes around making women cry."  
  
"It actually felt kind of nice," she offered, wiping her soaked hands on her soaked blouse. "I never get the chance to let it out like that. So if you want to use this as another excuse to think you're some kind of monster, I'm gonna—"  
  
"We're not discussing this," Inuyasha said abruptly, standing and sliding open his shoji. "I don't deserve to be asking anyone right now...gods, I hate this curse...will you marry me?"  
  
Kagome swallowed and shook her head. "No, I will not."  
  
"That's because you're not a complete idiot. Good night."

* * *

Needless to say, relating and discussing this little episode took the entire time she and Sango spent in the tub, then all through preparing for bed and then nearly all night, especially with Shippou curled up next to Kagome on her pillow.  
  
"I bet I know why he was such a jerk," Shippou said wisely, snuggling under the crook of Kagome's arm as she tweaked his hair gently. He yawned. "You smell really nice. It makes guys act funny sometimes."  
  
"Do I?" Kagome asked, smiling sardonically and hoping his demon eyes weren't good enough to see her in the dark. "It must be one helluva stink to get him to act like that."  
  
"He might have a point, Kagome-chan," Sango's voice said uneasily from the floor. "I never thought you wouldn't know about it."  
  
"What?" Kagome raised her head, then settled back as Shippou murmured a sleepy protest.  
  
"After he falls asleep," Sango whispered, and Kagome waited obediently till the kit's breathing was deep and regular before repeating the question.  
  
She heard a sigh, then Sango speaking low and crisply. "Demons and partial demons can smell much more keenly than we can, and that includes all kinds of body odors, including your woman's cycle. You said you were having trouble with yours?"  
  
"Yeah, the way I've been snapping at everyone, it should be any day now," Kagome said apprehensively. She needed to check if Kirara had brought her supplies for that...  
  
"They can smell that, too. As a slayer, as soon as I became a woman, I learned that about five or six days before your time, your body tries to attract men by scent—only human men can't smell it. We don't know why. All we know is that demons can detect it, and though most of them technically know you're not _trying_ to seduce them, it tends to make them...edgy."  
  
"Oh." Kagome could feel her face heating up. "So Inuyasha and Kouga didn't attack me and just looked at me funny when I went ballistic because...?"  
  
"I'd attribute that more to shock than anything....As I said, Inuyasha wouldn't hurt you in any case, but Kouga may very well have tried to get his revenge another way if you hadn't stood up to him."  
  
The thought made her mouth go dry with revulsion. "So...he...he...and Shippou—"  
  
"He's too young to understand why he likes the smell so much. And I may be wrong about Kouga. As much as he hates Inuyasha, to force himself on a guest in his host's care would be beyond the pale. Even wolves have standards," Sango reassured her, cursing her insensitivity.  
  
Kagome rubbed at the fading bruises on her upper arm. "God, I hope you're right. Will it go away when I start?"  
  
"It should, and then you'll smell _different_, but not nearly the way they like. Next month, I'll have Kaede make you a tea that suppresses the scent. You have to take it twice every day for three days before, though. It's too late for now."  
  
Well, this was interesting. It could explain why Inuyasha was always so pissy, in addition to the curse: his hormones were cheering him on when the rest of him was repulsed. It made sense. _Maybe he'll be nicer to me once it goes away.  
  
And maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and my toes will be made out of caramel. Either one could happen._  
  
But between the imminent lack of the distracting smell and the freshness of his self-disgust in mind from tonight, Kagome might be able to see what Inuyasha was really like tomorrow, or the next night. He'd been okay a few times before, and he hadn't made fun of her for crying in front of him as she'd feared, so who knew? As long as she had to be around him, might as well try to make friends, if possible...

* * *

She took a while to drift off, but when she did, it was a heavy, dreamless slumber that didn't break till Shippou shook her awake well after dawn. "Kagomeeee! Kagomemememememe! Look how hard it's snowing! We gotta go! You promised!"  
  
"Leave her alone, Shippou," Sango ordered, pulling Kagome's heaviest sweater out of her trunk. "You can wear your clothes outside, Kagome-chan, then put on a kimono to keep warm and...modest, after we're done," Sango said cheerfully, even the slight pause.  
  
Kagome understood perfectly: the heavier garment would help keep her scent literally under wraps. That was probably another reason why Inuyasha had complained about her own clothes, too.  
  
Once breakfast was consumed and they were all bundled up, one last surprise stumbled his way out of a guest room, blinking wearily at them, settling on Sango. "Ane-ue?"  
  
Kagome grinned, recognizing a very old and respectable form of "big sister" as Sango cried, "Kohaku!" and swept the boy into a huge hug.  
  
"C'mon, sis, cut it out," Kohaku mumbled, blushing so that his freckles disappeared under the red. He had slightly darker hair and eyes than Sango, but they were undeniably siblings. She set him down reluctantly and introduced him to Kagome, and he responded with gentle politeness despite his evident need to sit down.  
  
"Ah, Kohaku-kun," Miroku called out, striding in from outside and whipping the door shut before more snow could filter in. "I see you're awake. Would you care to join us?"  
  
"What's this us?" Sango muttered, but Kohaku shook his head.  
  
"No, thank you, houshi-sama...I think I need to sit down for a while." He tottered off with Sango in close attendance.  
  
"He's the last one," Miroku said, almost to himself.  
  
"The last one awake?" Kagome asked, and Miroku nodded. "Is that important?"  
  
"Kagome-sama catches on quickly, as usual." Miroku paused. "Yes." Pause. "I may be allowed to say, then, that the deadline"  
  
And Kagome and Shippou watched his mouth move without sound. "Are you _not_ a pervert, Miroku-sama?" Kagome asked in sudden inspiration, and burst out laughing at his murderous look: he couldn't answer yet. "Ah, silence. Never mind answering, then, 'cause you just admitted it!"  
  
"That was uncalled-for, Kagome-sama," he hmphed a few seconds later.  
  
"What was?" Sango asked, coming up and leading them out the door.  
  
Kagome had to shout it over the wind, but once she conveyed the story, Sango praised her ingenuity in humiliating the monk for so long that she received the first snowball of the day, and certainly not the last. Everyone, without exception, spent a great time either eating or throwing snow, or both, and though there were a few sore faces every now and then, the snow was just soft enough not to really sting. Though they had to take a break at midmorning to go inside and warm up, and then another one at lunch, the foursome had established a set of rounds for snowball wars by the time they went out in the afternoon.  
  
The sky had lightened and the cold's bite had lessened just enough for less hardy souls to wander out, and it was men versus women again, Shippou perching on Kagome's shoulder as usual and Kirara acting as Sango's occasional shield and mobile fort in her large form. It was only fair: Kohaku had just emerged to join the fun, along with three youths from amongst the servants, while only two women had come to help Kagome and Sango. Miroku had gone inside a few hours ago, but his absence was soon covered by more help from the servants, some of whom lingered in their firewood duties to watch their usually solemn resident demon-slayers and upper servants fling white powder at each other for no real reason.  
  
Kagome was rather proud of herself: everyone, it seemed, was having a blast. Even when the war dissolved into a free-for-all snow melee, she managed to hold her own till Sango stuffed a handful down the back of her shirt and she had to retaliate by trying to trip the slayer, who only went down because she was laughing too hard to stay upright and support Kagome's laughing weight.  
  
"What in the hells is going on here?"  
  
Their lord's voice brought the fun to a standstill. Older servants hurriedly straightened up, dropped their snow and bowed, trying to dislodge snow stuck in various places without being rude. Still on the ground, Kagome looked up in irritation.  
  
Inuyasha crouched on the railing of the second floor balcony – maybe the same one she'd confronted Kouga on – and glared down at them, making what Kagome had to admit was an impressive sight, framed as he was with his white hair billowing out, face set to Scary and grey clouds roiling behind him and speedily gaining on the castle. _There goes our calm..._Kagome sighed. Oh, well.  
  
"You have ten seconds to get back to your duties before I start beheading and looking for dependable servants." Inuyasha sketched the kanji for 10 in the air with one claw. "10."  
  
There was a mad rush back to the castle doors, and the last one was inside as he drew 7. He smirked, then threw a last look down at the others before heading back inside himself.  
  
"That jerk," Kagome muttered. Honestly, it was at least an hour till dinnertime. He could've let them play a few minutes longer, or announced that they had a certain time to get back to work. "C'mon, Sango-chan, let's get back inside. We better take our bath now, too." They were both covered in dried sweat, which just reminded her of her biggest worry...she'd never thought she would ever want that time of the month to roll around so much!  
  
__

_

* * *

_

__

_At least he couldn't smell me up there,_ she consoled herself after a long, heavenly bath as Sango helped her with three underkimonos and the coup de grace, a magnificent purple silk kimono embroidered with multicolored flowers and tiny birds in patterns as beautiful as the colors themselves—red, white, gold, green, blue and bronze. If she hadn't been so self-conscious, Kagome would have fussed over it considerably more, and only resisted a strong urge to pin her hair up with the stronger urge to cover as much skin as possible, even if it was just with hair. She almost welcomed the tightness of her pale green and blue obi, too—anything to keep the kimono as _shut_ as possible.  
  
Dinner had never taken so long or so quick a time to arrive...  
  
The object of all her worries gave her a careless glance as she came in. That was all.  
  
"Good evening," Kagome said evenly, kneeling with much more grace and assurance than she felt. _Ha. Take that....Whatever 'that' is._  
  
"Mmmph." He sipped at his tea, nodding vaguely at her and ignoring his food till she picked up her chopsticks and deliberately clicked the tips together. Inuyasha jumped, picked his up, and eyed her briefly again before starting his meal.  
  
"We had a lot of fun outside today," she said mildly, wondering at his near- zombielike stare. She'd expected another lead-in to their usual shouting match. It was almost a letdown.  
  
"Mmm. I saw," he mumbled, still eating slowly and methodically.  
  
"Really?" Kagome put her head to one side. "How long did you watch?"  
  
"Few hours. I dunno." Inuyasha missed her jaw dropping and her quick recovery.  
  
What the...? This was new. She'd concluded after talking more with Miroku, who was after all Inuyasha's adviser, that Inuyasha's politeness that first dinner must've been on his advice, and God only knew if he'd had a battle plan for their other 'discussions.' Somehow, she doubted Miroku was behind this particular tack. The only question was, what was he doing? _And how long has he been stalking me?!  
_  
Kagome would've been fairly surprised to discover that not even Inuyasha knew what he was doing. True to the women's assumptions this time, Kagome's scent had been a source of buried but nonstop irritation for him, even if it did provide ample excuse the last day or so for his growing, almost violent attraction to her: just her body talking, most likely without her even knowing it. He wasn't stupid enough to tell her, and even if Sango had filled her in yet, what of it? Just one more reason for Kagome to be wary of him till her time was past.  
  
Knowing it was purely chemical in nature didn't help. In fact, it made him even angrier now as he realized that his body was getting tired of listening to his mind. Any lack of control over his already tightly bound life was beyond infuriating. The only thing that really helped was comparing this strange, violent-tempered girl to _her_, and then his body subsided nicely and he was able to go on snarling and glaring like nothing was wrong, because then nothing _was_ wrong.  
  
Until she showed up for dinner in _her_ favorite kimono, looking achingly familiar except for her hair down, slightly wavy across the shoulders. And her face was different, he conceded, not in its structure so much as its character. Kagome smiled way more, shouted way more, laughed—  
  
And then his body started bugging him again, and when he pointed out the differences between Kagome and his memories of _her_ to it, this time it sneered at him. _She_ was beautiful in her own assured, regal, and serene way, and this girl, who yelled, cried, played in the snow and argued him down to nothing, was...well, she was stunning. _Beyond_ stunning.  
  
His mind leapt to the offensive: okay, yeah, she was, but look at her in that kimono...that wasn't Kagome, that was _her_. He was projecting. Recreating _her_ in this near-clone and thinking of her the same way he'd wanted _her_ all that time ago. What kind of lust-crazed monster was he to want someone new because she was here, she was in heat and she looked like a woman dead for centuries but always alive in his heart?  
  
Kagome had no way of knowing his increasingly stormy thoughts, but his expression was a pretty good indicator. Painful as it was, the face remark from last night came back to her, and she began to remember a few of her theories.  
  
_No way in hell I'm asking him now, though. As soon as we finish and he asks, I'm out of here._ The kimono layers were beginning to stifle her, but she didn't dare flap them to shuffle air in and out now.  
  
Absently, and with complete detachment, she finished her soup and studied him briefly, wondering if he could be considered at all good-looking under the demonic features. To her mild surprise, she conceded that if you got rid of the stripes, shortened the fangs and gave him normal eyes, he wouldn't be at all bad to look at. Maybe kinda cute, even. _Too bad he's such an ass. If I want good looks with a bad personality, I can always call Houjou...or Kouga._  
  
The very thought made her shudder, and Inuyasha came out of his trance just in time to notice it.  
  
"So Sango told you about your reek and you're wondering when I'm gonna jump you?" he demanded, ignoring the little voice as it triumphantly pointed out its rightness once more.  
  
"What?" Kagome blinked, then shook her head. "No, I was just thinking about that creepy wolf again. I'm lucky he didn't do anything." She shuddered again, and Inuyasha eyed her suspiciously.  
  
"Are you?" he mumbled, almost to himself.  
  
"What?" Kagome bristled. "Look, I don't know what's gotten into you, but if it's my smell, I frickin' apologize for being female. Now ask me and we can both go to bed." Cough. "Separately. Yeah."  
  
"Wolves mate for life," Inuyasha said aimlessly, draining his sake cup. "If he gets his paws on you, you're _his_. Keep that in mind."  
  
She flinched. "All right! I get it! Now ask me, will you? This thing is roasting."  
  
His mind, on the lookout for points against the girl in front of him, leapt on that like a fish into water. "What, is that kimono not good enough for you? That's one of my favorites."  
  
"Mine, too," Kagome snapped, certain now that it was a Clone Thing. "It's beautiful, and I'm glad Sango picked it out for me. Now please ask me so I can go change."  
  
"Damn, wench, I know I'm not that much fun to be around, but you can at least pretend to have some manners." Inuyasha deliberately splashed sake into her teacup. "Is that enough for ya?"  
  
"You jerk!" She sprang to her feet. "I was trying to be nice, but if you're PMSing, too, you can lay there awake all night for all I care! Good night!"  
  
"Y'know, I always thought Sango was pretty unfeminine..." Inuyasha had moved to block her and had one arm resting casually across the shoji. "But the way you talk makes her look like a princess, y'know that?"  
  
"And the way you act in general makes cat vomit seem polite and welcoming," Kagome retorted. "Get out of my way."  
  
"What're you gonna do if I don't?" Inuyasha knew this was stupid, but that scent was starting to drift his way, and though he naturally had perfect control over the situation, it wouldn't hurt to test her out a little. Right?  
  
He got his answer as she glared at him, then gave him one of the worst shocks of his life: she placed her bare hand over his and plucked it off the shoji, limp as it was with unnerved surprise. "There."  
  
"What the..." Kagome paused in the act of opening it to watch Inuyasha back up, staring at his hand in horror. "The hell did you do that for?!"  
  
"I don't have cooties, you immature moron!" she yelled, stung by his reaction. "I promise you won't die! Unless you don't move, of course!"  
  
"Fine! Get out of here!" He stabbed a finger at the shoji and left the room quicker than he'd ever gone before.

Kagome just stood there for the count of twenty. She was free to loosen her kimono, or go back to her room and change...or...  
  
Mind roiling with evil possibilities and maybe a few grains of concern over his not having asked her tonight, she stiffened her spine and glided as quickly as she could through the trail of open shoji he'd left behind. He was not getting away with this!  
  
_If he doesn't apologize somehow, I'm going to have to oh dear Lord looky there..._  
  
Her mind diverted brainpower to more important things as she rounded a corner and stopped on the threshold of Inuyasha's room. A single good-sized window let in a nearly full moon, and once again framed directly in the center, like a shot from a movie but _much_ better, stood Inuyasha. Next to his futon. Without his haori. And the top half of his white kimono folded down, and nothing else on his torso.  
  
...  
  
...  
  
...  
  
Okay, disregarding the face for now: in all female honesty, she had to admit that his broad shoulders, lean muscle, well-defined everything and toned...well...everything...were...wait, what was she going to do again?  
  
A slight noise slid in on her drooling reverie, and as it crescendoed, she recognized it as a growl. Not a good one, either. "Yeah? You gonna say something, bitch? Or are you just gonna gawk?"  
  
He was angry. Not good. Kagome concentrated fiercely on shoveling dirty thoughts out and packing angry thoughts back in. "Look, I don't know what your problem is..."  
  
"Oh _really_?" Inuyasha could smell her stronger than ever now, and if she didn't leave soon, his mind was going to get beaten up and shoved in a closet for a while. It was losing fast.  
  
"All right, fine! I just..." Another glance at him and she couldn't think about anything. _Craa-aap! Is this what being a guy is like?! How do they ever get anything done?!  
_  
"What?" The single word dripped with so much malice that she had to think of a question, and fast.  
  
"Who is it that you all knew that I look like now?"  
  
Oh.  
  
_Fuck_.  
  
If he'd been malicious a moment ago, the look he slowly turned on her was beyond demonic. Closer to Satanic, but scarier—to her, anyway.  
  
Inuyasha deliberately took a step towards her. Kagome just watched, flattened back against the screen. Then another. One more, then two, and he was within reach. He took a large step, and casually rested his left hand on the shoji, next to her right ear.

She could smell the sake on his breath, and noted in the part of her mind not busy looking into his larger-than-usual red eyes that his bare skin actually smelled presentable otherwise. Mostly, though, her mind was steadily shrieking at her for sticking around and provoking him in the most violent way possible with her questions and "Please take me!" smells and whatnot.  
  
Too late now: if she tried to duck out to her right, he could do just about anything faster than she could breathe.  
  
"That," he grated, breath puffing hot against her cheek as he deliberately leaned in closer, "is _none of your fucking business._ It is not, was not and will never be. And if you value your very _soul_, you will never ask me that or bring it up in my presence _**ever again**_!"  
  
Inuyasha's eyes were just slightly above hers, titled at a dominating angle, and he could smell fear and that other damned scent still coming off her in droves. Mostly the latter, though, which increased as he leaned in and hissed in her ear. "_Do you understand_?"  
  
He pulled back far enough to watch her face, noting clinically that the moonlight looked very pretty on the part of her hair his body wasn't blocking. Her eyes searched his, found only bleak rage.  
  
And she shook her head.  
  
Kagome yelped as Inuyasha's left fist drove a neat hole through the paper wall. Without moving a muscle otherwise, jaws included, eyes boring red and huge into her, Inuyasha inquired as to what, precisely, she did not understand.  
  
She drew a ragged, shaking breath, then another, and whispered feebly. "You loved her, but she's g-gone now. They w-wouldn't have h-hated me if she'd d-died p-p-peacefully." Inuyasha's brows drew together in utter bewilderment, but he was silent as she inhaled again, trembling slightly all over. "What I d-don't underst-stand is why she would d-do that to y-you—"  
  
Inuyasha's left fist came back through the hole in the shoji mechanically, his eyes going utterly blank. Kagome breathed more deeply as he backed away from her, a little at a time, until his heel caught on his futon and he went down hard, falling on his backside like a small child and just sitting there.  
  
Kagome inhaled and exhaled, letting life flow back into her lungs, while the opposite was happening to Inuyasha on the futon. Forgetting the apparent danger her life had just been in, Kagome approached him carefully, as one approaches a sick or injured animal to help.  
  
It was scary...he wasn't moving even to breathe. That innocent question had unleashed something in his mind, and though she had no clue what it was, Kagome knew she didn't like seeing this. Whatever the mystery woman had done, Kagome's blind guess would indicate that she'd struck pretty close to home. Probably a little too close.  
  
Wondering in brief fear if he'd tear her arm off for it, Kagome slowly, lightly knelt next to the futon, and lifted one lock of hair away from his eyes, noting with vague disappointment that it was a bit rough, like a real dog's fur. "Inuyasha?"  
  
His face was averted, eyes closed and profile turned as much away as possible. "Just leave. Please go away."

He sounded so pathetic, so unlike himself that without meaning to, she reached over and touched his chin lightly.  
  
Eyes opened, head turned slowly and brown met...gold?  
  
Kagome leaned in closer, blinking in amazement. The red was white, now, and the blue pupils looked almost like gold! What was happening?  
  
"Kagome?" Inuyasha still sounded uncertain, but reached up, hesitantly, to grasp the hand under his jaw.  
  
"Inuyasha!" A strident, cheerful shout shattered the spell like rocks in stained glass, and Miroku poked his head into the open shoji. "Kouga's harassing the cooks ag—what in Buddha's name?!"  
  
In a trice Inuyasha had whirled away from her, up and was pulling her by the elbow out past the stunned monk, through the rooms and into the dining area. Releasing her as gently as he'd grasped her, Inuyasha scrubbed his face in both hands, looked back at her and said, abruptly, "This did not happen. D'you understand?" She nodded dumbly, gazing back into red eyes as usual, and he nodded back, waving in a distracted manner before sprinting from the room.  
  
A moment later, he was back with a "Will you marry me?" and gone even as she shook her head.

* * *

_...What the hell do I tell Sango?_ Kagome wandered back to their room, mind still awash with pity, confusion, hormones and vague anger. _I know what I'm telling her. I'm telling her she's going to help me find Kouga and tie him down and not feed him or let him so much as breathe till I get some freaking ANSWERS!  
_

* * *

A/N: Whew! Let it be noted that this is not going to be an R-skirter the whole time. It's not gonna be super-skanky like this a lot, so don't worry, everyone who didn't like it...and sorry, but there will be more, everyone who did. ;D (Popular demand works wonders, though, just as a side note...)  
  
And a bio lesson for everyone moaning, "Not another 'she's in heat' or 'he's in heat' fic!" It's true that without the 'demon' explanation to at least make it readable, the idea of males going into heat is BS: for every species I'm aware of, it's a case of He's Ready When SHE'S Ready. But the females' heat is backed up by fact, even in humans (girls really do release pheromones when we ovulate, and guys really can't smell female pheromones: that organ's been devolved into nothing); sorry if you knew that and it still seems overused, but honestly, he's a _dog_ demon half-breed and a postpubescent male. Outside Rumiko Takahashi's slightly sanitized view of things (when it comes to sex, anyway), that'd be a pretty massive factor in a relationship, especially one that's awkward to begin with. Look at your average college-age or even some (too many) high-school couple and tell me hormones never come into play. XD But still, I'm not making this the focus of the fic. It's back to good ol' snowmen and relationships soon, not to mention a bit o' explanation for everybody.  
  
(Not dumping on all 'heat' fics. Just the crappy ones. If you're thinking of one and bristling and framing an angry review already, you need to stop and ask yourself why you're so defensive first. :D)  
  
Wow. My hands hurt like hell. Time for upload and bed. 


	6. Breakthroughs

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Too tired to attempt a witty comment to accompany this.  
  
A/N: Wheee...I'm ready to conk out, but even though I honestly have no clue if it's Saturday or Friday (I thought it was Saturday, but Cartoon Cartoon Friday things are on instead of the Peach Man Inuyasha episode I hurried home to tape...?), y'all's reviews have made me very very happy and earned another chapter...after I go downstairs and ascertain what day it is!  
  
...Okay, it is Friday. Whoo. Godfrey, I need sleep. Well, let's see what we can do here...

* * *

**Beast**  
  
**Chapter 6  
**  
When morning rolled around, the first order of business was to shoo Shippou away to locate Kouga while Sango and Kagome bathed; Kagome was highly grateful she'd found Kirara with her mistress before they went to sleep last night and had been able to send her back to the shrine for a few more things. The little fire-cat was highly intelligent and brought all the correct necessities back just as they woke up.  
  
Partly to avoid explaining just what they were talking about to Shippou and partly because Kagome had been too confused to think properly, much less relate what had happened, she'd quietly insisted Sango wait till morning, and the slayer readily agreed, worried by her friend's odd detachment. Knowing that there was a lot going on under that blank façade didn't help when she had no clue what had distressed her so much in the first place. _I'd bet three thousand koku to a broken pin that Inuyasha's behind it again...  
_  
The bath also had a more practical purpose: annoying as it was, Kagome had to let Sango know that her scent wasn't a problem any more for now, as predicted, and they only had to keep track of the next days for her to drink the suppressant tea. "At least he can't use that as an excuse to ignore me any more," she mumbled, dunking her head under the water for a moment and reaching for the shampoo Kirara had 'borrowed' for her.  
  
"So what was it that made you so upset last night?" Sango asked quietly, helping Kagome lean out of the tub to wash her hair out with two ever- present buckets.  
  
Kagome knotted her wet hair atop her head and noted idly how weird it was to be smelling her own familiar strawberry shampoo in the castle. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend she was back at home. "Well, Inuyasha was really quiet at first..."  
  
And she told her the whole story, without interruption, save for a "He _didn't_!" when she heard how he'd reacted to her grabbing his hand.  
  
Kagome was a little embarrassed by her own stupidity now that she was describing it, and Sango's frown deepened as she listened. Her reaction only strengthened Kagome's resolve to omit certain of her own observations about Inuyasha: she didn't need Sango thinking she was a slut in addition to the way she'd acted like an idiot.  
  
"You never should have followed him, or asked him such a thing when he was angry," she said severely as Kagome finished with Miroku 'stopping' Inuyasha. "I meant it when I said he wouldn't hurt you, but you were pushing him, and he has lost control before."  
  
"Really? When?" Kagome was bitterly unsurprised by Sango's head shake. "Wow, can't tell me. Why did I see that one coming?"  
  
"I mean it, Kagome! Do you think I could ever live with myself if anything happened to you because I didn't warn you enough?" Sango snapped.  
  
Kagome dropped her eyes. "I'm sorry, Sango-chan. I know it was stupid. I was just mad and didn't think." _The hormones didn't help either, but I don't think she needs to know that...stupid hormones! Stupid, stupid...!_  
  
Sango sighed. "I know. I'm also sorry. It's just..." She shut her eyes. "Ask Kouga about it. He's likely to be more than happy to tell you just what happened. Do not let Inuyasha know you're asking, though."  
  
"Of course." Kagome started to rise, remembered her most practical reason for bathing, and groaned. "I am definitely wearing my own clothes for a few days."  
  
And of course Sango wanted to know what she was doing when Kagome took out more odd-looking modern implements, and the explanation (she was _not_ going to demonstrate!) effectively took both their minds off their tiff. All was forgotten as they went back to the room to change and found Shippou waiting.  
  
"He's on the balcony on the third floor," the kit reported through a shoji, back turned and leaning against the rice paper. "They said he likes to just sit there and stare a lot. Even the ladies who kinda like Inuyasha say they feel sorry for Kouga."  
  
"Why's that?" Kagome asked, bundling up. The castle was colder than ever today, and the wind was screaming, its voice plain even from inside the castle. _Dinner tonight is going to be hell._  
  
"He's a prince, remember, Kagome-chan?" Sango pointed out. "And he's a wolf. He's been away from his pack and his duties for centuries because of the curse. Till it's broken, everyone within the castle now has to remain close to it."  
  
"Wow." Kagome hadn't thought of that, and felt ashamed of herself. She didn't know if Inuyasha had earned the curse somehow, but Kouga definitely hadn't deserved centuries of exile from his people. "Didn't he have retainers here or something to keep him company?"  
  
"Not in the castle at the time." Sango was selecting her words with care again, and Kagome promptly decided that they were going to go talk to Kouga _right now_.

* * *

Sure enough, the wolf demon was out on an even higher balcony this time, and Kagome bravely stepped out into the piercing wind. "Kouga-sama?"  
  
Still in only his armor and skins, with way too much flesh showing for possible comfort in this weather, Kouga nonetheless sauntered over to her with unaffected carelessness. "Hey, it's you. What brings you up here again, eh?"  
  
Shivering nonstop in her four layers, Kagome glared at him. "How can you not be cold?!"  
  
Kouga laughed harshly. "This is nothing, wench. Better to stand a little chill than stay inside with the stink of dog."  
  
It was too damn cold to beat around the bush. "Would you do me a favor and tell me a few things? Nobody else who knows anything can."  
  
"What about the dog-turd? You and him seem pretty cozy." Kouga turned his back and strolled over to the rail.  
  
"We're as cozy as a dog and a cat with their tails tied together," Kagome shouted back over the wind, willing her lips not to freeze shut. Inspiration tapped on the back of her mind. "If you don't want to tell me, that'd be fine with him. He doesn't want me to know, so I'd better just go inside now."  
  
She didn't need to turn around: he was already blocking her path. "Really, now? Well, I can't promise anything, wench, but—"  
  
"It's Kagome," she said quickly, offering a polite smile. _Sucker_. "I just want to know...well, first off, who was it that I look like?"  
  
"Oh, her." Kouga snorted and permitted Kagome to step inside the doorway's shelter. She didn't like the proximity, which he was obviously enjoying, but having a source of answers right here was more than enough to make up for it.  
  
"And who was she?" Kagome asked patiently, willing herself not to swear at him when he showed no sign of elaborating.  
  
"She was a priestess, and a cold bitch." Kouga shuddered broadly, looking away from her. "Powerful. Could've taken dog-turd down in a second, if she wanted. I think she did for a while, but she'd sworn allegiance to his mom, and her damned duties were all that mattered."  
  
"How did she die, then?" Even the cold faded into the background as her interest sharpened, devouring the wolf's words.  
  
"Couldn't say. Didn't see it," he said lazily, but she smelled something more. Seething, she decided to get a few more basics out of the way before trying that one again.  
  
"So how many centuries have you been here?" she asked. That'd been bugging her.  
  
"Dunno." Kouga scratched his head. "This's the third time we've woken up, and this time we woke up only 'bout 7 years after we went to sleep again."  
  
"How long between each time you go to sleep and wake up? How long are you awake each time?" _Why didn't I bring a pen?!_  
  
"Uhhh...it's supposed to be 250 years even. So I guess we got slapped with dog-turd's curse 'bout 507 years ago now. And both of the last times we were awake, we hung around maybe ten days before the dumbass got impatient and put us back to sleep."  
  
"Impatient for what?"  
  
"For some wench to wander in and break the spell for him." He eyed her speculatively.  
  
"So how do I break the curse?" Here it was, the possible answer to all her problems: she helped him with whatever it was, and voila, her new friends were free and she could go home.  
  
Kouga stared at her, then burst out laughing. "You haven't figured it out yet?!" He shook his head, fangs bared as he grinned. "You poor dumb wench. Lemme guess, has he been asking you anything he never usually would? Say, asking you a lot?"  
  
"Every night, yeah," she said slowly. What the hell was he getting at?  
  
"That," he announced very deliberately, "is because the only way to break the curse and let us all go is for him to get a woman, any woman, to agree to marry him."  
  
".............Oh."  
  
That made sense. Actually, she was kinda mad at herself for not figuring it out sooner.  
  
Well, maybe not. After all, _"I HAVE to agree to marry him?!"_  
  
Kouga clamped his hands over his pointed ears. "If you're gonna howl at me, wench, I'm not answering any more of your questions!"  
  
"Sorry," she said hastily, but he shook his head and leapt back to the railing.  
  
"No worries," he shouted cheerfully, balancing on his tiptoes again. "Tell you what, Kagome! If you can find out the priestess's name without my help, I'll tell you anything you want to know, as much as you like and as soon as possible. Deal?"  
  
"How am I supposed to—" But he was gone. She bit off a curse and headed back inside, where Sango took one look at her and hurried her off to their room to warm up.  
  
Sniffling all the while, Kagome decided to be practical and mentally ticked off the things she'd learned: she looked like a creepy dead priestess, that priestess had meant a lot to Inuyasha even though she'd apparently hated him for a while – had she ever returned his feelings? – everyone here had been asleep for about 507 years minus about a month, and...  
  
"Sango?"  
  
The slayer paused to look at Kagome.  
  
"Would the curse be broken if...one of the servants just said she'd marry Inuyasha instead?"  
  
The blanket she'd been lifting dropped from Sango's suddenly limp hands. "So I was right, was I?" she murmured, more to herself than for Kagome's benefit, and sighed. She shook her head. "No, Kagome-chan, I only knew the caster of the curse a little, but that nature was very clear, and such a simple solution would never be sufficient. He could merely order one of them to accept him and then the curse would be undone."  
  
"What would be wrong with that?!"  
  
Sango pressed her lips together. "There'd be no point. It'd be like exchanging gold for dirt: he would need only extend his hand to get it. I think the curse was built to try and see if he could find a woman who would accept him, maybe even love him, as he is now."  
  
Kagome's jaw dropped. "Like that? With his personality?"  
  
"There's more to the story, you know, Ka—"  
  
"Exactly! And if it weren't for Kouga being here, I'd never have more than a guess at whether he deserved to get stuck like this or not! The curse doesn't let anyone tell me his side of the story, and he's too stubborn to fill me in, and whoever did it probably knew that! That's just evil!"  
  
"For whom?" Sango inquired, a smile twitching the corners of her mouth despite her sympathy.  
  
"For all of us! Even Inuyasha!" Kagome flung off the blankets and began to pace. "The next time I see Kouga, he's giving me more answers or—"  
  
"Good morning, Kagome-sama, Sango-sama," Miroku said from the next room, stepping in and bowing to each of them. "Kouga is not here, Kagome-sama. I doubt he'll be back for some time, either. He seems to enjoy the woods."  
  
"Aaaarrrgh!" Kagome snarled back and flopped onto the bed.  
  
"I take it Kouga was able to tell you a few things about our curse," Miroku said mildly, inspecting the few remaining items stacked on top of the TV, still in its box.  
  
"Yeah! Like how everything rides on some girl being dumb enough to want to marry Inuyasha! And everyone here who knows him is either terrified of him or not interested, so that just leaves me!"  
  
"And what would be so terrible about marrying Inuyasha?" Miroku was noncommittal. "Surely you must see that his bark is much worse than his bite, and one learns how to quiet even the loudest barking." He coughed discreetly. "Besides, last night led me to believe—"  
  
"Look, he's rude, he's dense and he hates me! Why would I ever want to marry him?!" Kagome was too wound up to be reasonable, and she knew it, but who cared?  
  
"I cannot tell you any details, Kagome-sama," Miroku said firmly, turning to look at her sternly. "But allow me to say that Inuyasha has not had an easy life. He would sooner die than admit it, but he's been very lonely, and the curse has only exacerbated it. I would never ask you to do anything against your will, but, please..." He dropped to his knees and took one of her hands earnestly. "Please give him a chance, a fair chance."  
  
"Of course I will. I'm not that dumb." Kagome tried to pull her hand free, wondering why he hadn't tried this when he was talking about Sango almost the same way. Or was it the same...? "You can let go now."  
  
"Ah, yes, of course." His grip didn't loosen. "Now that my faith in your fairness has been restored, may I ask you a simple question?"  
  
The wind's howl outside rose to a hideous screech, and Sango grabbed the nearest item from the top of the TV. "I swear, houshi-sama, if you even dare—!"  
  
"With my own Lord's guest?" Miroku's face slid into a portrait of dejected innocence. "Perish the thought, my dearest Sango-sama. I merely wanted to know if Inuyasha told her how long she'd be a guest here."  
  
"Three months, bouzu." Everyone's heads whipped around towards the next room, a small storeroom with most of Kagome's trunks filling the space.  
  
Kagome yanked her hand free and dashed to the shoji, flung it open, and stared at trunks and empty space. "How...how long was he there?! And how did he do that?"  
  
"My. I actually received an answer." Miroku sighed, then barely ducked Sango's swipe at his skull.  
  
"You knew he was there!" Kagome raged, willing Sango not to miss next time.  
  
"Don't damage Kagome-sama's possessions!" Miroku protested, ignoring Kagome. "I didn't know he was there, I swear it!"  
  
"With your training?!" Sango had halted at his first words, but raised the folded laptop again. "Why, you—"  
  
"He can manipulate the castle's air itself to cloak him if need be!" Miroku lowered his hands and frowned at Sango. "I was honestly curious as to how long we would all have, nothing more. Your doubt in me is most disheartening."  
  
"Not as disheartening as your tendency to lie and grab," she muttered, throwing the laptop onto the bed next to Kagome.  
  
Miroku's frown became a scowl. "Now, that goes too far! Have you ever—"  
  
"Hey, guys, look at this," Kagome said loudly, hoping to diffuse their argument. She opened the laptop and fished through its box for the loaded battery. The slayer and monk sent each other last glares before settling down to watch her curiously.  
  
"This is called a computer, and a special, easily portable kind called a laptop," Kagome explained as she booted it up, laughing at their amazement. "It uses a different kind of Western magic than the car. See, it starts on its own once you tell it to by pressing this button, here..." And she explained all the various uses for it: the great worldwide mail system called the Internet, the various games one could play, and its practical uses, like word processing.  
  
The keyboard itself required explanation, first for its use and then why it was unreadable: "This one uses a different writing system, called the Roman alphabet, with 26 letters. My brother is an English major, so Dad got him one of these, with their letters, instead of our language."  
  
"What's the point of it, then?" Sango asked, and they all turned as Shippou and Kohaku came in.  
  
Kagome returned Kohaku's greeting and repeated the explanation for all their benefits, to clarify for the two adults as well. "And to answer you, Sango-chan, watch this." The four gathered closer as she settled the laptop on her knees, opened Word, used the touchpad to flick the little arrow around and do something near the top, and began typing. But instead of the strange squiggles she was hitting – Kagome had just said that hitting each one would summon it onto the screen and thus create words – hiragana began forming slowly, and they all gasped.  
  
"'Hello, everyone,'" Miroku read aloud. "I don't understand, Kagome-sama. How was that possible?"  
  
"You can change it so that you can type in Japanese even with these keys," Kagome said proudly. "Isn't that cool?"  
  
"Kagome-chan, that's amazing! Could you teach us how to use it?" Sango asked excitedly.  
  
"Well, the battery won't last forever, but I'm sure it wouldn't take you too long to learn. Dunno how...it...would..."  
  
They looked at her in concern. She had trailed off and her face had gone pale. "What is it?" Shippou asked, leaning in close and waving a little hand in her face.  
  
Suddenly she shrieked and jabbed the off button, scaring everyone badly. "Don't do that!" Shippou whined, clutching his ears.  
  
"I'm sorry, Shippou-chan," Kagome apologized, sweeping him into a huge hug. "But this is wonderful! Ohhhh, I owe Yusaku a million backrubs when I get home!"  
  
This hardly clarified anything, but soon she calmed down long enough to explain.  
  
"You guys are forbidden from saying anything aloud, or from writing it, correct?" Miroku, Kohaku and Sango nodded in unison. "But the curse doesn't prevent you from hitting little buttons with foreign characters on them, does it?"  
  
"We don't know how to use this, Kagome-chan," Sango objected. "Just creating the words by any means might be forbidden."  
  
"I don't think whoever put the curse down would have bothered to use that much power. I mean, in your time, besides writing and speaking, how else could you tell me about something that complicated and abstract? Grunting? Charades? And you don't know any signing or foreign languages."  
  
"So how shall we go about this, Kagome-sama?" Kohaku asked.  
  
Kagome bit her lip. "Can all three of you read and write?" They nodded in unison. "Good. Who's the best at it?"  
  
"As a monk, I've had the most training in the art," Miroku remarked, glancing at Sango and nodding at her grudging acceptance.  
  
"Okay. Someone hand me a piece of paper and something to write with." Kagome accepted a sheet of scrap paper from Sango and grabbed a ballpoint pen from her bag. "This might take you a while, but these combinations of Roman alphabet letters can be used to form our hiragana and kanji...we'll just use the hiragana if we can. I'll see if I can adjust it. Otherwise, using kanji on it takes forever."  
  
She drew a sample hiragana character. "This is a, and to put it on the screen, I switch the languages on the computer and you then type this." She wrote a Roman letter A next to the character. "And for ka..." She drew the hiragana, then wrote KA. "Press this button, then the A." She tapped the K and A keys to demonstrate. "Do you get it?"  
  
"I think so," Miroku said slowly, and Sango nodded. The monk looked thoughtful. "How would you write Sango-sama's name?"  
  
Sango flushed and tried to ignore him, watching as Kagome drew sa, n, and go on the paper, then wrote SA, N, and GO. "Try hitting those on the keyboard."  
  
Miroku slowly but accurately tapped the letters out, looking at the piece of paper. "This would produce the word in our language on the screen?"  
  
"Yep!" Kagome was so proud of herself that she huggled Shippou closer and grabbed another sucker for him from the bag. "Let's get some lunch, and then you can practice some more, Miroku-sama."  
  
Miroku scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I do have duties to attend to, Kagome-sama, that may delay my learning to write on this wondr—"  
  
Kagome was up and looming over him, eyes dark with menace and aura blackening the air. "I _said, you can practice some more_."  
  
Shippou landed on his feet and scuttled under the bed as Miroku smiled shakily and agreed. Times like these, it was the only wise thing to do.

* * *

Whatever Miroku had told Inuyasha, it was sufficient this time to get him the rest of the day free; whatever it was had also improved the half- breed's mood so much that as dinner time approached, the weather had settled to merely snowing, and Kagome couldn't resist Shippou's urgent requests to go out for just a little while.  
  
"Is your arm okay?" he asked from her shoulder as they headed out with Sango, Kohaku and Miroku in tow.  
  
"It's fine, Shippou-chan," she reassured him. "It didn't even hurt when I used to throw stuff yesterday." He giggled and hugged her around the neck, and she took the opportunity to plant a quick kiss on his cheek.  
  
"Ewwww," he protested, half-heartedly wiping it off on his sleeve. "That was uncalled for!"  
  
"Precisely." Kagome winked at him. "Now, who should we make today?"  
  
The two of them finally decided to recreate yesterday's epic snow war in miniature and set to work shaping four-inch snow figures into humanlike blobs. Kohaku joined them after a moment's hesitation, while his sister was persuaded at length to pose with Hiraikoutsu so Miroku could recreate _her_.  
  
"They seem to be having fun," the monk observed, watching Shippou pretend to be a giant and set the terrified snow people to flight. Kagome was laughing and clapping, while Kohaku smiled a bit uncertainly.  
  
"It's good to see him out and about," Sango agreed, shifting as her muscles began to ache. "Even during the fight yesterday, he didn't seem to be enjoying himself. He must be taking forever to wake up fully."  
  
Miroku said nothing, but continued work on the snow Sango.  
  
"Don't you have to go to dinner soon?" Kohaku suddenly asked Kagome, as they made more people to satisfy Shippou's tyrannical urges.  
  
"Not yet," Kagome said after a glance at the sky. "Sango always knows when it's time."  
  
"Do you enjoy eating with him?" The question brought her head up. Kohaku looked very serious, and maybe a little afraid.  
  
"No. His temper's too short and we always end up fighting." Kagome resumed her work. "But he's not as bad as he seems." _Just not so 'not as bad' that I'd ever marry him. There's our problem right there.  
_  
"He scares me," the boy said finally, and Kagome couldn't think of a suitable answer.

"Wow," Kagome said respectfully, coming over with Shippou to inspect Miroku's creation a few minutes later. Kohaku had just excused himself and gone inside with a headache. "It looks just like her."  
  
"Why, thank you." Miroku preened as Sango finally lowered the boomerang and also gaped at the remarkably accurate snow sculpture of herself. "It did turn out almost as well as its subject, did it not?" As they watched, his hand reached out to idly stroke the snowy rear—and they sighed as the real Sango promptly whacked the monk into his creation, demolishing it.  
  
Sango whirled around. "Come on, Kagome-chan, not much time left for you to get ready for dinner."  
  
Sango's promise to force the monk to practice more with the keyboard reminded Kagome of her imminent Getting Answers, and she practically hummed all through her quick bath and outfitting in a warm black wool kimono, though she wore a pair of shorts underneath it for added warmth.

* * *

"Been having fun today with the wimpy wolf?" was the first thing out of his mouth tonight.  
  
Ah. Back to normal, as promised. "Nope," Kagome replied cheerfully, in too good a mood for his pettiness to spoil it. "I talked to him for maybe five minutes, and then my face froze off."  
  
"If only." He caught himself and risked a careful glance at her, but she only stuck her tongue out and kept eating.  
  
Whatever that smell in her hair was, he liked it...sweet but subtle, ignorable, not in-your-face like the other one. All _those_ thoughts had safely subsided, and she was simply a pretty but annoying girl once more.  
  
"Been having fun eavesdropping on people?" Kagome said casually, and was rewarded with a full-facial twitch.  
  
"Not really. There's not much to listen to around here." Inuyasha shrugged, and Kagome mentally marked down another point for herself.  
  
"So what happens if the curse isn't broken?" she asked conversationally after a few minutes of silence.  
  
Inuyasha froze. "Beg pardon?"  
  
"You can have it. Now, what happens?"  
  
"Why do you want to know?" he snapped.  
  
"Because I happen to be slightly involved here, and I think I have a slight right to know," Kagome said calmly, enjoying the return of her self-control.  
  
"Stupid wench. You're not supposed to know," Inuyasha said irritably. "So quit following the wimpy wolf and bugging my servants."  
  
Kagome laughed. "Now they're your servants and I'm to leave them alone?" He remained sullenly quiet at her teasing. "Seriously, why shouldn't I know? You're all hoping I'm going to break the curse, aren't you?"  
  
"Who told you about that?!"  
  
She raised an eyebrow. "Kouga did. I was honest. I told him you didn't want me to know, and for some reason he just couldn't get it out fast enough." _Being stupid again...where's the self-control now?  
_  
Inuyasha's fist made a large hole in the floor. "Do you realize you could possibly fuck the whole thing up just by knowing too much?! Did it ever occur to you that that's what some of the damn rules are in place for?"  
  
"Why would it matter how much I know?" she asked reasonably, but he caught just a whiff of anger. Good! Time for a taste of her own medicine...  
  
"You do like to think you have some pride, don't you?"  
  
Kagome blinked. "Yes, actually, I do."  
  
"Then would you accept anyone who agreed to marry you out of pity, no matter how bad your condition?"  
  
_Oh. That makes sense._ "So you're saying if I know too much, I'll say yes only because I'll feel so bad for you?"  
  
"And would you accept anyone who agreed to marry you out of fear? Greed for your wealth? Guilt for a wrong they'd committed against you? Envy of your position? Lust?"  
  
"All right, I get it! If you look too good or too bad, I'll accept for the wrong reason and the curse won't be broken. As if _you're_ asking _me_ for a good reason...stupid curse." Kagome frowned. "But what'll happen that's so bad that I'd agree to spend the rest of my life with you, just to keep it from happening?"  
  
Inuyasha growled at her. Somehow, the sound was ceasing to annoy her. Now it only made her more curious.  
  
"All right, fine. So all you'll tell me is that I'd have to mean it, eh?"  
  
"Yeah," he said, short and bitter.  
  
"Damn. Someone sure covered all their bases." She scrunched up her nose. "But it's not very fair to expect any woman, even under the best of circumstances, to blindly accept a guy not knowing what'll happen afterwards."  
  
He let out a bark of humorless laughter. "Since when has this seemed fair to you?"  
  
"Point taken." Kagome chuckled as something occurred to her. "What a modern curse."  
  
"What was that?"  
  
But Inuyasha's frown didn't daunt her at all. "Before all this, as a lord, you would've looked for a wife with good political, social or economic connections, right?" He nodded impatiently. "So technically, by your standards, the best punishment would be to force you to marry the lowest girl you could find, but instead you have to find one who loves you as you are. That sounds like what someone from this time would pick, 'cause arranged marriages happen still, but they're usually frowned upon." At his confused expression, she shrugged and simply said, "More people marry for love."  
  
"Strange." Inuyasha took a sip of sake and regarded her irritably. "Wives are for bettering and continuing the family. If I found someone I liked who couldn't do that, well, that's what concubines are for."  
  
"Concubines aren't legal anymore." She tried bravely to hide a smile at his shock. "And marital fidelity is highly prized in _both_ spouses. We believe marriages thrive when the husband and wife work together, not for or against one another." Well, that was highly idealized and sanitized, even by Western standards, but compared to what Inuyasha had been raised to believe was normal and acceptable...  
  
"That's absolutely ridiculous," Inuyasha said flatly. "If a woman sits on her ass and decides to wait till she's_ in love_ to marry, what happens when her father dies or can't take care of her?"  
  
"Women are educated and permitted to work as men do." No need to bring up gender problems in the workplace: pay discrepancies, sexism, discrimination, and all that nice stuff.  
  
"If that's true, then who takes the women's places in the home? Children?" Inuyasha clearly believed she was either lying or insane.  
  
"Women do both, sometimes. Not all women work. Some do stay home with their children. But children spend most of their time in school, and education is expensive, so their mothers often have to work to help their husbands, when they even have them."  
  
"Keh. What an idiotic waste of energy." Inuyasha sipped more sake. "It's much easier for everyone with our way. Women should take care of their households and let the men take care of _them_."  
  
"But women shouldn't be forced to depend on men. That's the difference." _How did this turn into a women's lib conversation?  
_  
"There's nothing wrong with the weak depending on the strong." Inuyasha only knew he'd pissed her off by the flare in her scent. Her expression was otherwise calm. _Dammit, what'd I say now?  
_  
"Women are physically weaker, in general, yes, but that doesn't make us helpless twits who can't live without men to take care of us." Kagome finished her meal in a few angry bites. "In _this_ world, you don't prove your capability by hacking people apart. Intelligence, sense and education make much more difference, and that's why women are not weaker than men, and we do not need to crawl to you every time we have a problem."  
  
"Excuse the hell out of me," he muttered.  
  
Kagome shrugged. "Well, how would you feel if someone automatically called you a weakling because of what you were born as?"  
  
Inuyasha glared at her, clenched his clawed hands with the points lying against his wrist, and then smiled. It was bitter, mocking and painful, but it was a smile. "You're good at jabbing sore points, you know that, wench?"  
  
"I do now." Kagome leaned forward. "Enlighten me further."  
  
"Hell, why not? You're out of here in three months. Plenty of time for stories." Inuyasha gulped down the last of his sake, and Kagome figured that was probably a key factor in the fact that they'd managed to have a borderline _discussion_: no screaming or death threats yet. Amazing.  
  
"Y'see these?" He jerked a thumb at his ears. "When I was a runt, the servants used to call me Puppy. I didn't care...hell, I had the ears, Dad was the biggest and strongest dog demon in the whole world, so if they called me that, what of it?"  
  
"Go on," she said softly as he paused.  
  
Inuyasha continued as if she hadn't spoken. "So one day I'm messing around in one of the back gardens...suckers used to be huge...and a servant comes out looking for me for my mom, and she calls me with that stupid name. I come running like the little dumbass I am, and my asshole of an older brother comes up and backhands me into the wall so hard I can't move for two days. If I'd been human, I'd have been paralyzed or killed."  
  
"What was his _problem_?" Kagome demanded, enraged at the thought of anyone hurting a child like that. _If I ever meet his brother...wait, older? Then why's he the l—  
_  
"He didn't kill the servant 'cause she belonged to Mom and that would've pissed Dad off, but when the servant told Dad and he asked Sesshoumaru why he'd hit me, the bastard said that if I was going to answer to humans' pet names and still dare breathe the same air as our father, I'd better do so on the ground like the mongrel I was. And am."  
  
"That—!" Rage brought tears to her eyes, but not at Inuyasha for once. Mere profanity seemed inadequate. "I hope your dad beat the shit out of him!"  
  
Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow at her. "You're as dumb as I was. Dad agreed. Just said he wanted Fluffy to take it to him next time and not damage his wife's son any more."  
  
"_Damage_?!" Inuyasha winced at the octave her voice rose to. "You're not a toy! No child who gets his spine cracked by his own big brother is just _damaged_!"  
  
"He didn't mean it that way. Dad, that is." Inuyasha shrugged. "He talked about everything that way. And he did yell at the bastard in front of the whole court. Pretty humiliating on behalf of a little half-breed puke no one liked 'cept as a pet." He scowled at her. "I do remember that crap you said about other people's lives, okay? Just wanted to show you you're not the only one who's had people treat them—what are you doing?!"  
  
Tears now leaked steadily out of her eyes, and she was glaring at him full- force. _Gods damn it all son of a bitch how the fuck do I always end up making her cry?!?  
_  
"Quit it with the pity," he snapped. "You know I hate that sh—"  
  
"I'll quit it if you will!" she snapped louder. "I'm not crying in front of you because you got treated like dirt as a kid!"  
  
"The hell you aren't!"  
  
"Fine, I am a little! But I'm mainly just pissed!"  
  
"What now?!"  
  
Kagome took one of her patented deeeeep breaths, then let it out. "I told you already," she near-whispered. "If I keep hearing you talking about yourself like you're some piece of living waste and you're a worthless half- breed monster and blah blah blah and _on_ and _on_ like you actually believe it, I'm gonna..."  
  
"Gonna what?" Inuyasha leaned forward, too, dangerously close.  
  
The conversation might have ended in a very deadly fashion if Kagome's attention hadn't been drawn to his ears. One was rigid, but the other wouldn't stop twitching. Her anger drained away like water through a sieve as she watched its fuzzy tip move restlessly. Flick. Flick flick. Damn, it was cute! No one could stay mad with one of those in reach...!  
  
"I'm gonna be stupid," she said cheerfully, and without further warning reached up and gently tweaked one ear in each hand.  
  
Inuyasha's whole body stiffened in response. "D—" His head decided not to obey him and jerk away; instead, she traced each one lightly, and he actually found his eyes closing, whole torso leaning into her touch. Gradually his brain took over and he scooted back out of her reach, mustering the worst look he could, considering the urge to lay his head down on the table was still going strong. "If you _ever_ touch me without my permission again, I'll do something very bad, and then I'll do something worse. Got it, bitch?"  
  
Sucking the insides of her cheeks to withhold an attack of the giggles, Kagome put on a penitent face and bowed low. "You're right. I shouldn't have grabbed those adorable ears, because they do belong to you, and not me. It was improper, and I apologize."  
  
"Good." He was going to have to scratch them like crazy in a minute to get the feel of her fingers off. It was _very_ distracting. He didn't even call her on the extra remark. "Go to bed, wench."  
  
"You're forgetting something again," she called sweetly as he made a beeline for his room.  
  
A steady line of mumbled curses tracked Inuyasha back to the little dining room. "Will you marry me and not ever touch my ears again?"  
  
Kagome sighed and wagged a finger at him. "That's cheating. Regarding your ears, I can promise nothing."  
  
"Look, wench, I don't know what other kinds of sick fetishes you have, and I don't care as long as you keep off me! Now answer the damn question!"  
  
"I just did," she replied, and Inuyasha clapped his hands over his ears to keep her from watching them wriggle in irritation. She was never going to shut up about this!  
  
"Y'know," she said with a lazy yawn, "I would'a backed off if you hadn't liked it. You were about to fall asleep, so don't get pissy on me. You're wasting your time."  
  
_Damn damn damn!_ Gods curse this nosy wench and her wandering hands and his stupid damn ears! "Look, I don't have all night. Will you marry me or not?"  
  
"Of course I won't marry you," she murmured with another yawn. "Just your ears."  
  
He froze in the doorstep. "You can't make it conditional! It's yes or no!"  
  
"Oh, that's no fair! What if I cut them off?"  
  
_"Look, bitch—!"_  
  
"M'kay, fine, I absolutely will not marry you." She yawned. "G'night, Inuyasha and his ears."  
  
A last snarl of "Piss off!" and he was gone, leaving her free to stagger off to her room, giggling like an inebriated schoolgirl the whole way, ignoring gaping servants as usual and wondering idly what they were saying about crazy Kagome-sama down in the laundry tonight.

* * *

As she approached her room, looking forward to filling Sango and Shippou in as usual, Kagome suddenly hesitated. Tomorrow, barring absolute disaster and then probably someone's death at her hand, she was going to find out what had happened so long ago.  
  
Kagome knew herself very well, and wasn't ashamed of her behavior tonight: as she'd said, she wouldn't have teased him if she hadn't caught him enjoying it so much. But she also knew that there was no way in hell that the things she was going to find out could be so bad that she'd want to share her love and her life and everything in between with Inuyasha just to get him off the hook. She'd always been properly appreciative of romance, but was more often so practical that her friends had been in near despair over her pickiness. Pity dates were out of the question: the idea of a pity _marriage_ was barely even funny.  
  
Plus, she had her family to think of. If she moved in here or whatever would happen after the curse broke, what were the odds of Inuyasha tolerating five freeloaders, one of whom he already despised and two of whom no one but family would ever put up with?  
  
Kagome stopped. And pinched herself hard. _Your marrying Inuyasha is not even a vague possibility. Quit rationalizing and giving the idea credit!_  
  
Feeling slightly better and waaay too awake for this hour (she had spent much longer than usual at dinner tonight), Kagome firmly turned her thoughts towards what to ask tomorrow. She had forgotten several questions already with Kouga and Inuyasha; it was time to get to work.

* * *

A/N: Let's hear it for second winds and unexpected angles manifesting and lengthening things ridiculously... X'D Ah, well, we're in no hurry. Right? Of course. I'll try to get one of these out again tomorrow night-ish...I'm tempted to write the next one NOW, but if I don't sleep, I'm going to start forgetting my friends' names, how to drive, etc., and that would be bad. Very bad. Therefore I am now heading off to upload and sleep. :D Sleeeeep... 


	7. Giving and Receiving Explanation

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. That sucks. Ah, well. Life goes on.

A/N: Gotta love having no obligations...by the time I finish and upload this chapter ('bout 3 a.m. now...), it may be time for church, but that's about it. XD I very possibly may be out of town Monday and Tuesday, and I'll be driving, so no staying up all night like usual tomorrow night, i.e. no updates for (dun dun dun) a couple of days. Unless I write one tomorrow during the day because I've gotten so used to spoiling you guys with quick updates...hmmm...nahhh, I'll be asleep. ;D We'll see.

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 7  
**  
Kagome finished her breakfast tea and rapped the piece of paper on the floor with her pen. "Can you think of anything else, Shippou-chan?"

The fox shook his little head, and Kagome re-read it for the 3,298th time:

_Stuff to ask today:  
  
The priestess's name_

_Her relationship to Inuyasha (and vice versa!)_

_How she died_

_That time Inuyasha lost control?_

_Why Inuyasha got cursed_

_What happens if the curse isn't broken_

_What happened when Sango and Kohaku attacked Inuyasha_

_That thing Naraku had (was it important?)_

_The whole deal about Naraku (who was he, and so on)_

_Where's Inuyasha's brother?_

_And what about his parents?  
_  
That was all she could think of after last night and a long, careful discussion this morning. Now it was just a matter of sending Shippou to get the monk, and...done!

Humming all the while, Kagome waited for Sango to clean up and then set up the laptop in the middle of the floor, where they could all see it and Sango could pitch in if need be. She booted it up and went through the process of dealing with the fact that she hadn't shut it down properly, thanking whoever was listening that Dad had been naïve once again and bought a slightly used model at a higher price, even for one with a foreign-language keyboard. There was nothing to set up: no wastage of the few precious hours the battery afforded them.

"Good morning, Kagome-sama, Sango-sama," Miroku said behind her, bowing and obediently settling down in her place as she jumped up. Shippou bounded in and curled up on the bed, as per their arrangement last night: if he stayed quiet and didn't interfere while the adults typed (he couldn't read yet anyway), he could have as many suckers as he liked, and they could play outside all the rest of the day.

"Good morning, Miroku-sama," Kagome said politely, nearly jamming the hiragana-letter key into his hand. "Now, let's get started, shall we?"

"All right, but I imagine I know what some of your questions will be." He set the paper on his lap and cleared his throat. Kagome and Sango both looked at him curiously. "I ask only that you do not repeat...certain names. If you discover any names through what I communicate here, please do not say them aloud. I will explain later, but for now, please trust me."

"O...kay," Kagome said slowly. "I'll just refer to new people by who or what they are. Can we start now?"

"I also warn you that I do not know everything. Some key facts are only known to Inuyasha. Also..." Miroku's expression became even more serious. "I know more than most here in the castle, but there are certain things I _will not_ tell you, that it would be wrong for you to hear from anyone but Inuyasha. It may anger you, and perhaps rightfully so, but I stand firm, and ask you not to pressure Sango-sama or anyone else for those answers."

Kagome looked appealingly at Sango, but the slayer was regarding the monk with respectful surprise, and only said, "I agree."

"Aw, you guys suck." Kagome sighed. "Well, I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth. I guess you are doing me a favor...so I promise I won't keep asking stuff you refuse to answer. Can we pleeeeease start now?"

"As you wish." Miroku awkwardly set his staff across his lap and leaned over the keyboard. "The weather is quite pleasant today, as you may have noticed, so please don't injure me at any time. I'd like to go out and enjoy it later."

Kagome nodded impatiently and consulted her list. "Okay, first up. I know I really, really look like a woman who was a priestess here and died. Is that right?"

Both monk and slayer went rigid, but Miroku slowly pecked out _"Yes."_

"Okay, just checking. So...what was her name?"

"My knowledge of kanji is lacking," Miroku said casually, letting out a breath when the curse apparently let it slide as a neutral statement. Kagome nodded, though the kanji for the woman's name wasn't that important to her anyway: she didn't use one for her own first name, after all. He then turned his attention to the keyboard. "Remember our agreement..."

_"Kikyou."  
_  
Kagome reflexively shivered a little. _Weird. It's not a bad name or anything..._ "I see. She was the priestess. How long was she here? Did they know each other all their lives?"

_"Long story...she was here slightly longer than a year. She was sworn to Inuyasha's mother's service and helped to defend the castle."_

"What was she like, as a person?"

Sango grunted something, making a face. Miroku only smiled and shrugged as he typed. _"A powerful priestess. Cold and regal, but kind and serene when she chose. A woman we respected greatly, but avoided when possible. Lonely, I think."_

"And what was the priestess's relationship to Inuyasha?"

The air seemed to grow heavy, as if whatever force the curse used to monitor the servants' speech was getting irritated by the questions. But Miroku kept his mouth shut and was freely able to answer on the laptop, though it took several minutes. _"At first, adversarial. Then formal respect. Then, slowly, love. She hid it, but I saw and overheard things."  
_  
"Wow. What about Inuyasha? Was it the same for both of them?"

_"I think he loved her first, yes, strongly."_

"So they were in love...did they ever tell each other?" That was unnecessary, but her curiosity was in control now.

_"I don't know. They were never a couple. The relationship ended"_ His hands paused, and they watched the cursor blink patiently. _"very badly."_

"Really? Why?"

Miroku cast her a long, reproachful look, and spoke aloud. "I would not tell you even if I knew. Ask Inuyasha."

"Awwww, damn." Kagome growled, then nodded reluctantly. "Fine, I'll keep my promise. Moving on..." She skipped down the list. "Sango once said Inuyasha lost control. What happened?" Her eyes widened. "He didn't kill her, did he?!"

Miroku sighed, and Sango closed her eyes in a grimace as he began to peck words out again. _"I don't believe so. They had a long fight that last day, unusual for them. No one dared get close enough to listen, and the fight was quiet."_ Despite her tension, Kagome smiled briefly: her own frequent fights with Inuyasha tended to be audible to the whole castle. _"She stormed out alone and he refused to follow for many hours. He sneaked out after dark and didn't come back."  
_  
There was a long, long pause. Kagome said nothing, shrinking a little in apprehension as she looked up and saw the expressions on both her companions' faces at the memory. Sango swallowed and placed a hand on the monk's shoulder; he squeezed it back, smiling at her gratefully and eliciting a dark flush, but it was still a few seconds before he could begin framing a suitable reply. _"Exactly what happened, none save Inuyasha knows. You must ask him. We went out to look next morning, and found Inuyasha clutching her bloody corpse."_

Kagome went cold inside and out. Despite the near-pleasant room temperature, the warmest it'd been since she arrived, goosebumps rose all over her body, and she rubbed her arms and folded legs hard. "But you said he didn't—"

_"I say I don't believe so. His f"_ The monk stopped, then tapped Backspace as she'd taught him to delete the last few characters. _"He was as you see him now, and he refused to leave her till Sango-sama thought to get his mother out to speak to him."_

"His mother?" she repeated. "Where was his dad? And his stupid older brother?"

_"Touga-sama, his father, died when Inuyasha was eleven."_ Kagome clenched her knees so hard that her nails dug right through the fabric and pricked her skin painfully, but neither of the other two noticed. _"His half-brother Sesshoumaru-sama had left two years before."_ "This is safe, I imagine," Miroku said, flexing his hands and turning to address Kagome. "Sesshoumaru- sama objected to living here with his father's human wife still in a position of such power and left, vowing to return some day and reclaim his father's house once she was dead. But we heard he took a mate and set up a residence in the south, so we were never very worried."

"I see...wait, his mom was human?" That was another obvious point she just hadn't thought about. "So Inuyasha's half dog demon, and half human?" Both Sango and Miroku nodded. "Wow. I never thought of that. Silly me."

Kagome mulled it over as she checked her list again: they needed to get going before the computer's battery ran out. These things never went very long without recharging, in her experience, even the nice ones, and Miroku's typing naturally took forever, though he was quite good, all things considered. He'd almost memorized half the key yesterday under Sango's threats.

"Okay, whatever happened with him that ended up with her dead and him getting cursed..." Kagome shuddered despite herself. "I'm assuming they're linked. But wh—" She shook her head. "Sorry. I'll probably just get some of these answered if you tell me the rest of the story. His mom came out and got him, and then what?"

_"Izayoi-sama tried to persuade him to come away or tell her what happened, but he was not rational."_ Kagome could imagine, and did just that, wincing. _"He stayed there till she pointed out that Kikyou-sama must be properly laid to rest, and ordered him to come away. Inuyasha would have murdered anyone else, but he obeyed and ran off into the forest."  
_  
"Did he ever tell anyone what happened?" Kagome asked, breathless at the thought of anyone brave enough to speak to Inuyasha like that right then, even his mother.

_"The next day, he slipped back in at midnight and asked me to help him sneak a bath. I did, and he said nothing except to thank me."_

"Sounds like him," Kagome murmured. "What did everyone say?"

_"To this day, most of the servants – almost all – believe he lost his temper and murdered her."_ Sango touched her on the shoulder, and when Kagome looked over at her, Sango shook her head fiercely. Kagome smiled and nodded sadly: Sango definitely didn't believe it, either. _"We are amongst the few, maybe the only ones, who don't think so. Most of the human servants have always thought him an abomination because of his birth, and Kikyou-sama just confirmed it for them. They respect you and pity you, because they hope you break the curse, but pity you for having to stay so near him lest you end up the same."_

"If he didn't hurt me the other night, he never will," Kagome said firmly. "There must've been some kind of misunderstanding. I asked him what K—the priestess did to him, and he looked so sad..." The thought that it might be guilt over what _he'd_ done to the other woman came to her, and she vetoed it. Violent jerk or not, Inuyasha definitely had more control than that, especially considering he'd been in love with the priestess.

Kagome was too deep in thought to notice her friends watching her, and exchanging speculative looks. "So," she said finally, consulting her paper and wondering why their heads snapped back to the laptop screen with such alacrity. "What happens if the curse isn't broken?"

_"The cruelest fate of all: Inuyasha loses control of himself. His demon blood takes over and forces him to kill all of us, while his human mind remains alert. Then he must kill himself, and the castle fades into nothingness."_

"Holy _fuck_, that's evil!" Kagome yelped. No wonder she wasn't supposed to know!

"Kagome-chan!" Sango gasped, and Miroku had to cough violently to hide a broad smile.

"Well, it is! I can't believe that! Okay, answer me: who was it that thought of that?!"

Miroku didn't look at her, and instead typed, _"Rephrase the question."  
_  
_What the...?_ "Okay, fine. I'll make it very simple. Who cursed you?"

Sango frowned at Miroku, whose face became impassive as he rapidly tapped out _"Naraku."_

"Houshi-sama!" Sango protested for some reason.

"What? It's true. Kagome-sama can always ask Inuyasha for the story behind it, though," he said, low and so emphatic that Sango's eyes widened, and she nodded, leaving Kagome completely befuddled.

_Weirdos_. "Okay, that reminds me. I was gonna ask about him anyway. He seemed like a real bastard." Wait... "But I thought he was dead?"

Miroku turned back to the keys. _"Yes, Kikyou-sama and Inuyasha defeated him together. The complete story: Kikyou-sama came here because she had wounded a demon called Naraku and taken a powerful jewel from him, which he had stolen from Sango-sama's village."  
_  
"That was what you were after, Sango-chan?" The other woman nodded, and the pieces rapidly fell into place. "So Kikyou took it from him and brought it here for protection, and someone told you that Inuyasha had stolen it instead?"

Sango leaned over and typed herself for the first time. _"Yes, someone posed as a trader who frequented the village. We later learned the man had been dead for months."_

Miroku gently nudged her hands away so he could respond. _"Probably one of Naraku's men. He had plenty of ill-gotten gold. So Sango-sama and Kohaku- kun attacked Inuyasha. He showed them mercy, defeated them with no injury and had Kikyou-sama explain herself. Their father heard and bade them stay to repay the debt of honor.  
_  
_"Soon Naraku attacked, and though Sango-sama and myself fought well, he was too powerful. It was Kikyou-sama's purifying arrows that weakened him enough for Inuyasha to land the final blow."_

"Cool," Kagome remarked, wishing she could've seen that. "But if he was dead when the curse struck, how'd he do it? And how did everyone find out? Did Naraku's ghost pop up and say, 'Boo, you're all cursed till Inuyasha finds a chick who likes him'?"

Even Shippou, listening idly from the bed, smiled at that one. _"Hardly. I think the curse works because of the Shikon Jewel."  
_  
"The jewel Naraku stole?" Kagome frowned. "Didn't they return it to the village?"

Miroku flexed his hands and grimaced, and Sango firmly turned the laptop towards herself. "Let me have a turn, houshi-sama." Almost as quick as Miroku, she typed, _"Father said the jewel was tainted from Naraku's possession and needed Kikyou to purify it."_ Kagome rather approved of Sango's decision to leave the honorifics out: they took a few extra seconds each, and the battery light was getting dimmer. _"So the jewel was left here. Kikyou prayed over it every day, and under her care, Naraku's evil was cleansed from it. But its presence attracted demons who wished for its power, and we were attacked daily."  
_  
"Wow, that sucks." Kagome glanced around uneasily. "So where is this thing now?"

_"We don't know."_ Kagome started, and Sango shook her head. _"No, we know it isn't in the castle anymore, or demons would flock to us. It was discovered missing a day after Kikyou's death. Inuyasha denied knowing where it was and suggested it may have been on her body. Izayoi-sama ordered her burned right away and her ashes scattered under the tree, which is now a holy place."  
_  
"Tree?!" Flashes of Souta's favorite climbing tree came back to her, and she dimly recalled that first strange day and what had happened when she'd touched it. _Hell, no wonder...but how did I know and not Souta? Weird..._ She shook her head as they looked askance at her. "When did you all find out about the curse? And how? From some kind of ghost?"

_"You could say that. Five days after the funeral fire died out, Inuyasha woke from a nightmare and ordered everyone in the castle into the first courtyard. I was in bed with a bad cold, though."_

Miroku repositioned the laptop towards himself and took the narrative back up. _"As we all stood out there, a voice came from nowhere—almost from all directions. Not loud, but commanding. It said we were all to suffer for our lord's mistakes, and spelled out how we were to sleep for the next 250 years, then awake and remain bound to the castle till Inuyasha found a woman who would accept him as he was. We were given three chances total, and we later discovered that Inuyasha had been given private instructions that night, likely including his powers over the castle's environment, his requirement to propose every night once a woman agreed to stay in the castle, and the length of time he'd be permitted to try to win her over. We only just discovered yesterday that once all the servants awoke, the time allotted was three m"  
_  
DEEEET DEEEET DEEEET from the laptop made them all jump, and Kagome reacted in a flash, snatching the laptop up, saving the file on the desktop and shutting it down. "There," she sighed, setting it down and closing it. "It was starting to die. We only have maybe a few more minutes left of typing."

"That was very useful to you, though, Kagome-chan," Sango remarked, smiling at her.

"Yes, it was, and I owe both of you so much." Kagome hugged Sango quickly, eyed Miroku and gave him a pat on the shoulder. He pouted. "Don't worry, I won't tell Inuyasha about this."

"About what, precisely?" The half-breed himself jerked open the shoji and glared at them. "Something's been bugging me all morning. Don't tell me you've been nosing around again, wench!"

"Perish the thought," she said airily, shoving awe, pity, and curiosity at the story she'd just read deep down. "We were just discussing what to eat for lunch."

"Lunch was over an hour ago." He folded his arms and tapped each elbow with his claws. "And you, bouzu! You said you'd make up for yesterday. How does staying in here all day qualify, eh?"

Miroku sighed. "Quite right, Inuyasha. Time slipped away. I do apologize."

"It was my fault," Kagome volunteered, discreetly swiping both the key and her questions, folding them with one hand behind her back and sticking them just inside her waistband. If he sees these...!

"What are you doing?" The movement hadn't escaped Inuyasha's notice.

"Just scratching," she said innocently, standing up and plopping down on the bed with her back facing Shippou. Kagome deliberately turned her head as if to flip her hair around, winking at the kit before doing so. He caught on and eased the papers out and under her pillow as Kagome stretched to hide him.

"Whatever. You're all idiots." Inuyasha jerked his head at Miroku, and the monk bowed to the women before following the lord out.

* * *

After they grabbed a late lunch, which Sango admitted under Kagome's questioning did produce lots of grumbling at her in the kitchens, they went back outside. Shippou was initially disappointed with how mushy and watery the snow had become, but soon regained his cheer after Kagome remembered a Western game she'd played as a child and figured out how to use it to their advantage.

Once they'd cleared all the snow away from the ground in a rough, five-yard circle, Kagome taught them how to play Marco Polo: whoever was It had his or her eyes bound with one of Kagome's scarves, and tried to locate and tag one of the other two by calling "Marco" and listening to the resultant "Polo." No one could step onto the snow, which the It player could feel easily. Both slayer and kitsune were skeptical at how simple and slightly ridiculous it sounded, but agreed to try so long as Kagome was It first.

Naturally, it was almost dark before they finally tired of the game, and Sango had to agree with Kagome that the servants who'd dawdled to watch them play must surely think both of them were beyond insane. But as Shippou pointed out, they were having fun, and it didn't matter what any mean, smelly old people thought, did it? They heartily agreed and headed inside to bathe, and maybe get in a few minutes on the computer, Kagome hoped.

"Oi, wench." Kagome stopped just inside and turned towards his voice. Inuyasha had his arms folded again, leaning against a polished wooden column and looking sulky.

"What do you want?" she asked, refusing to put Shippou down despite his glare at the kit, who stuck his little tongue out and clutched her shirt tighter.

"Don't you have anything better to do than spoil the runt?" Inuyasha lowered his silvery head and scowled. Shippou gulped and hopped onto her shoulder, peering at him from behind her hair.

"No, I don't," she snapped, patting Shippou reassuringly. "Quit bullying him, 'cause it looks like _you_ have nothing better to do, either."

"Keh. Shows how much you know, wench." He pushed off the column and sauntered towards his room. "C'mon, we're eating now. I wanna get to sleep early."

"Now?!" Kagome opened her mouth, shut it and gave Sango an incredulous look. The slayer raised her hands helplessly and shrugged. "At least let me change!"

Inuyasha just kept walking, though she knew he'd heard her.

"You...jerk! Fine! See how you like sitting across from me when I'm all sweaty!"

"Can't be any worse than usual," he called back noncommittally. "Now move your ass. I'm hungry."

Vowing revenge, Kagome paused long enough to put Shippou down and let Sango escort her, moving very slowly, of course, to dinner.

* * *

"Saw you making an ass of yourself again today," he said almost congenially, as soon as she sat down.

_Couldn't even wait till we started eating,_ she sighed to herself. _Very poor form, pulling out the big guns right off the bat.  
_  
"Did you, now?" she said pleasantly, watching him twitch as she refused to rise to his bait.

"Of course I did. The whole damn castle knew you were wandering around like a moron, yelling weird foreign words." Inuyasha tried to sound smug, but the effect was ruined when he reached for his sake and took a massive gulp.

"It was a game. And I thought you were hungry?" Kagome took the chance to snag a piece of fish from his untouched plate.

"Hey! That's mine!" He deftly snatched the piece from between her chopsticks as she raised it to her open mouth, and she squeaked at the near contact.

"Too fast for you." Inuyasha chewed and swallowed with obvious enjoyment, smirking at her. "Teach you to ever steal from me again."

Kagome grinned. "Oh, yeah?" She made a feint for his fish, then suddenly darted a scoop of rice and got it only halfway to her mouth before he lifted it away and popped it into his mouth without spilling a single grain.

"See? Too slow." Inuyasha smirked broader.

"I need to bring my sisters up here," Kagome commented, returning to her own food with a grin. "I'd like to see you handle both of them swiping food at once."

"Wha, those craven b..." He stopped himself at her warning expression. "No way I'd ever let them come up here. 'Sides, I can't with the curse up. No one comes in or out without me expending a shitload of energy, and they're not worth it."

"You're no fun." She watched one of his claws come up to nick a tiny bit of fish from between his fangs and frowned as the thought of him using those to rip Sango, Shippou and Miroku to shreds before turning them on himself. _That Naraku must've been a monster. Nothing less could have come up with something like that.  
_  
"What? It's not that gross," he snapped, and she shook herself.

"Maybe not, but your manners still suck," Kagome said primly, taking a sip of tea.

"And the way you talk is weird and stupid. What's your point?" Inuyasha eyed her as she ignored him and removed her sweater: the castle had been getting steadily warmer.

"My point was that your manners suck," she replied, pinching her old blue Aloha T-shirt and flapping it to cool herself off.

"And you stink."

"And whose fault is it that we had to eat right now instead of letting me take thirty seconds to change?"

"Not my fault you were out there stinking yourself up even worse than usual and spoiling the brat instead of staying inside like a normal woman."

"That reminds me..." Kagome ignored the gender slur and started on her rice. "Shippou-chan said you killed the ones who killed his parents. What happened?"

Inuyasha snorted. "What do you care?"

"I just do." She shrugged and willed herself not to squeal as his ears started flicking slightly again.

For a second, Kagome thought he was going to brush her off; he gave her a long, suspicious stare, then apparently decided she wasn't mocking him and also shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal. I was out near the mountains and saw a couple of assholes running after a kid. They were called the Thunder Brothers. Never liked 'em, but I never had anything against 'em till they started trying to zap a kid on _my_ land. Fuckers left his parents' bodies right there, too, so it wasn't hard to figure out what happened." He made a broad swipe with one hand to his side. "So I offed 'em and the kid followed me home. Sucks to be him, right?"

"He was lucky you were there," Kagome said in some awe. "He would've been killed otherwise."

"Keh! Damn straight he was lucky." Inuyasha turned his head and took a long sip to hide his pink-tinged cheeks. Kagome decided generously not to call him on it: her revenge could wait a bit longer, and she rather liked the way things were going now.

"I wonder how old he is," she mused. "Do demons age the same as humans?"

"W—they do till they hit 20 or so. Then they age at least a hundred or so times slower. Think it's designed to get them old enough to defend themselves before long life really kicks in."

"That makes sense." Kagome twirled her rice in the bowl reflectively. "That means some could be living in this time and just hiding or something."

"Well, yeah." Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "C'mon, wench, don't tell me your weakling race could've eliminated them all just like that."

"Our weapons are a little stronger than you're used to," she pointed out. "Plus, there are about six billion of us all around the world."

"Billion?" His eyebrows drew together. "How much is that?"

"Do you know how much a million is?"

"Of course I do, wench. We used to make almost that much before the damn forests claimed all our lands." That was a gross exaggeration, but she didn't need to know that.

"And you know a thousand, then...so take a million, and then make one thousand sets of them together. That's a billion." She set her rice bowl down and dabbed at her lips with her napkin. "Multiply that by six, and that's how many humans are living all around the world right now."

Inuyasha rapidly calculated, red eyes going huge. "That's not possible! You'd have to screw like fleas to get that many people in just 500 years!"

"I resent that," a tiny voice muttered, and Kagome shrieked and reflexively slapped her right shoulder.

"I was wondering when you'd show up, y'old freak," Inuyasha muttered, reaching out to pluck a tiny, flattened something wafting gently down from the air near her shoulder.

"What the...?" She leaned over to examine his proffered palm. "What's that?"

"Myouga, the most annoying flea demon in existence." Inuyasha squinted closer as the flea popped himself back out to roundness. "What do you want?"

Myouga seemed very old; his tiny round head was bald save for a few locks of grey over his pointed ears, and his tiny yellow kimono and grey hakama had evidently been designed with his multiple sets of limbs in mind, as he crossed them and sat down with a huff. "This was most undignified of you, Inuyasha-sama. Imagine, insulting me in front of your future wife! Why, of all the—"

"She _ain't_ gonna marry me!" Inuyasha flicked his middle finger down and pinned the flea to his palm.

"I'm afraid he's right," Kagome told the squashed demon. "Every night he asks, and every night I say no, and every night I'm gonna say no."

"But Kagome-sama, think of the rest of us!" Myouga wheezed, struggling vainly against the almost nonexistent pressure Inuyasha was exerting on him. "You wouldn't leave us to—" He was promptly reduced to a paper-thin caricature once more; Inuyasha stood up, walked to the nearest railing over the open second floor, and dusted his hands off.

"Well, that was nice of you," Kagome said sarcastically as he flopped back down. "He had a right to be mad at me. I mean, I'd be mad at me if I was a servant or something and I found out no one was going to break the curse."

Inuyasha began growling, turning a deadly look her way. "Tell me no one actually told you anything."

"Okay. No one actually told me anything." Kagome drained her tea. "You know, you're not scary."

"Oh?" Successfully distracted from her careless response, Inuyasha gave her a grin designed to show his fangs off to advantage. "Is that so?"

Kagome studied him for a moment, flapping her shirt again idly, and shook her head. "Nope. Don't scare me at all."

He had to wonder if she knew he could smell fear: her actions were broadcasting her scent towards him, and sure enough, he smelled her, sweat, and not much else. _Damn cocky wench._ "So I guess you were just trying to fake me out when you reeked of fear the other night?"

"Well, you did kinda have me pinned there and your fist through the wall," she said logically. "I'd have to be an idiot _not_ to be scared when any guy does that."

"I did not have you pinned!" he retorted, unconsciously switching sides. "Not like I was holding you down or anything."

"No, but I sure as hell wasn't going anywhere." Kagome rubbed her neck. "I can still feel where you were breathing on me, y'know."

Shame was not something Inuyasha was used to, but he did feel a tiny prick of it before ruthlessly shoving it away. "Oh, shut up. It couldn't have been that bad. I'm not gonna do it again."

_Not without permission, anyway._ Kagome mentally slapped herself. Where had that come from?! "Good to hear. And I'll stay out of your room."

Inuyasha's mind came dangerously close to echoing hers (though of course neither suspected as much), and he covered it by snorting and gulping his sake down. "Six billion of you, you said?"

"Yep. About 125 million just in Japan." She smirked as his eyes bulged.

"Th-that's impossible! You people are like bugs!" Inuyasha shook his sake cup for any remaining drops. "Are you sure you don't mean thousands?"

"Nope. Millions. No room for any demons."

"I'll bet. Good gods..." He shook his head. "I'm surprised no one ignored the spells on this place and tried to move in. Space must be crappy beyond belief."

"We live in buildings stacked up over a hundred rooms high, yep." Kagome couldn't hide her smile any more at his expression. "And no one's allowed to build on this land, by the way. It's because there aren't enough squirrels."

"The hell do you mean, squirrels?" he demanded, and it took the better part of ten minutes to explain. Somehow her family's fall from wealth because of them came into the picture, and to Kagome's surprise, he listened for almost 20 minutes straight, expressing disbelief or snorting from time to time but otherwise paying attention.

"You're almost as cursed as we are," he said with awe. "And you didn't even do anything. Just like the servants, or the runt."

Kagome felt her face heat up. _Almost sensitive...must be the sake talking again._ "Except I never kicked my dad when he was down because of it," she declared, clicking her chopsticks' tips together absently. "The servants are almost all jerks about it. I mean, sure, they didn't do anything, but it's not like you wanted to get stuck with them, either, right?"

Inuyasha snorted scornfully in another attitude about-face. "That's right, wench, pretend like you understand. Remember your own lecture?" He stood up.

"Well, don't I? C'mon." Kagome crossed her eyes playfully at him. "Not knowing what your life is like doesn't mean I can't understand you in some ways."

"And now you're contradicting yourself. Time for bed." Inuyasha folded his hands inside his sleeves, annoyed by her smile. "What're you so happy about?"

"I'm happy 'cause I figured something out," Kagome replied. "And I'm not telling you what, either." _Time for revenge, starting............now!  
_  
"Feh. Petty _and_ childish. Nice combination." He scowled at her, growling as she giggled. "Stop that!"

Kagome immediately stopped and frowned as hard as she could. "Better?"

"Now you just look stupid!"

"Good! We match!" She grinned and started flipping her chopsticks around deftly, spinning them over and around the backs of her fingers. Inuyasha was impressed despite himself. "So, Inuyasha, got anything to ask me?"

"Yeah, moron, and you know it." He grunted and steeled himself as usual. "Would you m—"

"Marry Gackt? Me?! Ohhh, you're kidding!" She squealed and clapped her hands.

"What the _hell_?" Inuyasha gaped at her. "Did one of the cooks slip something into your tea or something, or has your brain finally stopped completely?"

"I was just testing your knowledge of contemporary Japanese rock." Kagome sighed theatrically. "You're really no fun. You're supposed to want to marry me, and yet you only spend an hour tops with me every night and don't even bother to find out who Gackt is. No _wonder_ I don't get the impression you're interested."

"If I'm not interested, it's because you're the weirdest, dumbest wench I've ever met!"

Kagome sighed again, for real this time. "Okay, I'll quit the fangirl act. Seriously, though, do you even _want_ to break the curse?"

"Maybe not if it would have to be you!" he snarled, and she finally began to get annoyed.

"Look, I admit I've been kind of a pain..." Kagome nobly ignored his emphatic nod and overrode his response. "But can you blame me? You haven't made _any_ effort yourself to make me feel welcome! You're lucky you have Sango-chan, Shippou-chan and Miroku-sama around to talk to me, or I'd have run away my second day here! How d'you even remotely expect me to ever agree to marry you if I never see you except to eat rice and argue and answer the same damn question for a few minutes every night?"

"Hey, it's not like I enjoy having to ask all the time any more than you do!" he snapped.

"That's fine, and your point is taken. But what about the fact that you only see me once, maybe twice a day for an hour at the most? We're never gonna get to know each other like this!"

"Good! I don't want to spend any more time with you than necessary!" he snarled, and Kagome gritted her teeth.

"Do you know what I just figured out a minute ago?" she asked patiently.

"That you seem to enjoy making my life hell?" he asked in identical tones, mocking her.

"That you're one big walking defense mechanism! The more something affects you, the less you want to care about it! You have to have been hitting the sake to even remotely come close to expressing any emotion that you can't snort, spit or bite along to! I know men have problems with that, but you're just pathetic!"

Inuyasha was almost speechless with rage, a rare sight indeed. "_Pathetic_?! Because I don't like spending time with a brainless shrew who pretends to know every stinkin' corner of my brain and then turns around and insults me next second?!"

"Maybe I insult you because it's the only way of getting through to you!" Kagome had to work very hard to keep her voice down, and was grateful when Inuyasha followed her example, albeit with utmost fury.

"The only way, eh?! What are you trying to imply now, that I'm stupid and the only things I understand are 'You're a stupid pig'?" He mimicked her voice, badly, on purpose, then sank back to his knees, realizing that glaring at her from above was not intimidating her as it usually did servants. Actually, just as she said, almost nothing seemed to work that way. It annoyed him to no end.

"That's what you'd love everyone to think!" she snapped. "If I try saying something nice, you 'feh' me and turn your back in case you might be tempted to say something nice back! All you have to do to keep us from fighting is at least attempt to be polite for once! And don't tell _me_ to try being polite, 'cause I have been sometimes, dammit!" As he opened his mouth, Kagome cut him off. "And if you tell me to just keep my mouth shut and solve both our problems, so help me—!"

"Would you stop putting words in my mouth, bitch?" Inuyasha snarled.

"Deny them! Go ahead! You're a crappy liar!" They glared at each other, but Inuyasha couldn't deny it. _How the hell does this stupid bitch know how to piss me off so much?!  
_  
"Look..." Kagome spoke very calmly, and his ears twitched violently as she almost read his mind. "I don't mean to piss you off so much. If I am, I apologize, but if what I'm saying does piss you off, you gotta wonder if it's because I'm wrong, or if I'm cutting a little too close!"

Pride screaming at him, Inuyasha growled, glared at her some more, and suddenly gave up. "And what if you're right, bitch? What if your little bullshit philosophy is pissing me off 'cause I don't want to hear it? And why the hell do you bother, anyway? You're not gonna marry me, right?" She jerked a nod at him. "See? Then what's your damn point in doing this? Do you get off on seeing me get upset?!"

"No! I hate seeing you upset! And I hate how it gets _me_ upset!" Kagome's control was wearing thin, and she fought her voice back down to Medium Raised. "If I have to spend time with someone as emotionally screwed up as you, and I have any chance at helping you, why the hell wouldn't I take it? I'll be doing both of us a favor!"

"So you just wanna chance to play around and fix the broken dog-freak, is that it?!"

Kagome slammed her hands on the little table and leaned in so close that he jerked back and could still feel her breath on his nose. "Would you _quit saying that_! That's _exactly_ what I've been talking about! You're so busy keeping yourself in your little emotional cell and telling yourself it'll never be safe outside that you refuse to do anything but snarl when someone knocks! Not everyone who knocks wants to open the door, laugh at you and run away, Inuyasha!"

His ears swiveled at the imploring note she ended his name on. He leaned away, more uncomfortable now with her words than her face three inches away. "More of your bullshit philosoph—"

"And I invite you to look me in the eye and deny it, any time! If I'm wrong, tell me! You don't seem like the kind of guy to lie to protect anyone's feelings, and especially not mine!"

"So now I have no feelings, is that it?!"

"You have too much feeling for you to deal with! So you shove it aside! And it's _painful_ to watch a potentially nice person willfully throw away any chance he might have at making friends and being happy just because he's too scared!"

_"Shut up!"_ The force of his howl sent her hair flying around her head, but she refused to do more than flinch slightly. "Just where do you get off telling me all this, huh? You have _no clue_ what I've been through because I let my fucking emotions tell me what to do! _None!_ I'm _never_ going through that shit again, d'you understand, you stupid bitch?!"

"You're right. I don't have any clue what you went through." Just being told that he'd fallen in love, never made it public and ended up cradling his dead lover's mangled body was nothing compared to the sight and sound of his raw pain. Kagome fought to keep tears out of her eyes: he'd only think she was trying to manipulate him. "And I'm not asking you to go through that again. I never would. All I want is to be your friend. That's _all_."

"Friend?" He drew slightly closer, so that their foreheads were almost touching. "What the hell do you want to be my friend for, you conniving witch?"

"I'm not conniving, and you're too scared to admit that you know it." She raised her voice to cut him off again. "You _do_! I'm not trying to turn you into a pansy so I can laugh at you later or make you get hurt again! There's a safe middle ground, Inuyasha, and it's not hard to get to! I swear! All I want is to be able to talk to you like we were earlier without you turning around later and saying you only listened to shut me up or something like that, which by the way makes _no_ sense!"

"It does too! You ramble, you think I listen, it makes you happy and it keeps you from getting bitchy!" he raged back at her.

Kagome stared at him, and he waited for the next explosion. But she lowered her head so that after a few moments, he was looking at the top of her head, and couldn't stop himself from inhaling deeply, noting somewhere in the back of his mind that the scent – her skin, mingled with that hair stuff – was so calming that he barely managed a growl as she began to giggle, finally erupting into laughter and almost pounding the table. "What is it now?"

"You couldn't have proved me more right if you'd _tried_," she said weakly, raising her head and wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "You see? You're not at all stupid, just a little dense. I just...want...to..."

Now that they were both calmer, they each noticed for the first time that they were in mutual bad-breath distance, but bad breath was _not_ the first thing that came to mind. Kagome was only a second behind him in putting about the entire room's permissible distance between them.

"Right," Inuyasha mumbled, turning his back to hide the fact that his whole face felt the same color as his eyes now, never mind his cheeks. "Uh...question..."

"Right." Kagome was certain she had to be the biggest moron in the world. What was she thinking, getting right in his face? He had to think she was some kind of skank, now, too! She was never going to get through to him!

"Uh..." Inuyasha was having genuine trouble trying to remember what he was supposed to ask. It didn't have anything to do with how red he was...or how she smelled...so what the hell...?! _...Ohhh, yeah!  
_  
"Uh...will you marry me?" The question's usual accompanying embarrassment was nothing compared to what he was going through now. He even felt proud of himself for remembering.

Kagome very nearly tossed off a "Sure, why not?!" just to get herself out of here and caught herself as her mouth was forming the first sound. "NO! No, no, no, that's okay, I'd rather not marry you," she babbled, and Inuyasha dashed from the room with a swift "'Kay, g'night!"

* * *

All Sango had to say for the incident was, "He had you against the wall before, and neither of you seemed to mind that much. Why was this so bad?"

"Because we weren't trying to kill each other!" Kagome wailed, stuffing her face in her pillow. "Aaaaaaargh!"

"Or was it because you were actually thinking this time?" Sango suggested, hiding a broad smile behind the TV box. "Or is that the same thing?"

"Sangooo-ooo! You have no idea! There I was, talking to him about his feelings, and I think I was getting through, I really was! And then I ruin it by getting close enough to...aaargh!"

Sango sighed and blew the last torch out. This conversation could go nowhere but in drawn-out, angsty circles. "Good night, Kagome-chan."

Shippou also elected to ignore Kagome, and it was only out of consideration for the kit that Kagome kept her agonized muttering internalized, wondering if Inuyasha was even a shred as embarrassed as she was right now.

* * *

Kagome would have been gratified to know that Inuyasha was probably even more embarrassed, and not just from their face-to-face moment. _Can't believe I said that about my emotions, _he fumed for the hundredth time, tossing in his futon. _Just watch, tomorrow she's gonna toss all that friendship shit and laugh at me! And I won't be able to say a damn thing! And I can't get that damn smell out of my nose! It's worse than when she grabbed my ears!_

This merely set his ears twitching again, an action he was used to, but which now seemed to be mocking him. _That does it, I'm never talking to her again. No more arguing, no more having her dig around under my skin, no more...more...aaaaarrrgh!_

* * *

A/N: Ta-da! Damn, that was fun to write for some reason. :D You would've gotten this half an hour later, but I got called down to breakfast right in the middle. An e-cookie to anyone who can guess at which point. 

XD And sure enough, I have exactly an hour before church starts. Gotta love being nocturnal—I'm usually asleep and don't get to enjoy Dad's Sunday breakfasts, which along with not paying bills and buying my own food is one of the benefits of living at home. (The fact that I – GASP – actually like my family has something to do with it, too.) But I need to get cleaned up now...y'all have fun. Later! ;D

(P.S. I took so long rereading that I wound up going to church before I could upload...:') Ah, well, you still get the chapter today, and to make up for the tiny imagined slight, I'll try to get the next one posted tonight or tomorrow morning. How's that for service, eh?)


	8. Loser on Two Fronts

Disclaimer: Inuyasha doesn't run my life, as he would if I owned him, not to mention the fangirls who would swarm my house. There are no fangirls swarming my house. Soooooo it follows that I do not own him. Or any of these characters. Minna-san wa no Rumiko Takahashi. And stuff in really, really poor Japanese. I could look it up, but I posted last chapter less than 3 hours ago and haven't slept...I took an entire semester and thrived, I promise! I just enjoy simplistic rambling. Yeah, that's it...oh, yeah, Sony owns the Discman trademark, too. Lucky them.  
  
A/N: Man, I'm spoiling you guys. My body and my computer hate me. But I've been doing this to both of them since waaaay before I started posting this fic, so why bother blaming it on that? XD Ooooh, must turn up "Yura Yura"...that's the ending from the second movie...and if Explorer will freakin' open up so I can reread the last chapter all official-like, I can get started here....Except it seems from the good other computer that ff.net is doing one of their updates right this second. How very deflating. Blahhhh...shut UP, spell-checker!  
  
(...Okay, conked out after less than two pages and coming back fresh. XD I guess I should delete my 'tired' A/N, but it amuses me, so in it stays. I'll do a few reviewer responses at the end of the chapter, but till then...)

* * *

**Beast**  
  
**Chapter 8  
**  
"The sun actually came out a bit earlier this morning," Sango remarked, settling down into the tub across from Kagome.  
  
"Really?' Kagome looked up from playing with the water in keen interest. "He must not have been that mad about last night, then."  
  
Sango sighed. "Then Kouga came storming back in, demanding to see you."  
  
_Damn_. "Is it snowing yet?"  
  
"Drifts two feet high last I saw."  
  
"Yep."  
  
There was a comfortable silence as they soaked. Sango broke it first again. "You know, whether your com-puter device has power or not, we can still use it to communicate."  
  
"Really?" Kagome's ears all but perked up. "How so?"  
  
"Simple, really, I think. If you ask and I simply hit the keys in order, you write down the letters I hit, still in their own strange language, and you translate that in your mind. The curse still doesn't recognize that alphabet, does it? Nor would anyone who found it without the key."  
  
"Nope!" Kagome grinned and settled in contentedly. "That's a great idea, Sango-chan. I'm glad you thought of that."  
  
"Well, I won't tell you anything the houshi-sama refused to answer, but I imagine you still had questions yet unanswered."  
  
Kagome nodded absently, closing her eyes and letting the water's heat seep into her very bones, it seemed. "I think today's officially a week since I got here," she mused aloud. _And a week since my birthday. They probably don't celebrate that here, though.  
_  
"A week?"  
  
"Yeah. It's a unit of measurement for time, seven days. Four weeks make a month, with a few extra days depending upon the moon's cycle. Fifty-two weeks are a year." Kagome paused. "Wait. If I'm here for three months and our measurement of time is different, how many more days do we have?"  
  
"It shouldn't be too far from your reckoning, Kagome-chan," the slayer reasoned. "We also use the moon to mark the months. Kohaku awoke about three days before the moon was full, so we have roughly three more full moons before the curse must be broken."  
  
"Okay, just checking." Kagome settled back down. "So I've been here almost a week now. It seems like much less than that...but longer, too." She frowned. "Hard to describe."  
  
"Are you unhappy?" Sango's evident distress brought Kagome's head up. "You know Inuyasha wouldn't hold you if he genuinely believed you hated living here."  
  
"I think you're right." Kagome shook her head and immediately wished she hadn't: the heat was getting to her. "But I do like it here. Even fighting with Inuyasha is...well, I guess it's kinda stimulating. I don't hate him as much as I used to, anyway. And I might just get through to him sooner or later. Years later, at this rate." Sango smiled her relief. Kagome smiled back, then rose. "C'mon, it's getting too hot in here. Let's get out before our brains shrivel up like prunes."  
  
As always, Shippou was waiting in their room, and he hopped into Kagome's lap as she settled down and Sango went to get breakfast. "Are you okay now, Kagome?"  
  
"I'm fine, Shippou-chan," she assured him, bouncing him on one of her legs playfully. "Things at dinner were just a little awkward, that's all."  
  
"Good. I was afraid he'd tried something funny with the way you were acting last night. And Sango was getting mad 'cause Miroku was chasing one of the maids..."  
  
"Really?" Kagome had never thought to ask Sango what she did for dinner every night. "So his perversion's not limited to Sango, is it?"  
  
The kit cast a disbelieving look up at her. "We really need to disguise you as a servant or something for a day so you can find out just how bad he is. Anything female and older than twelve is fair game. Which is really kinda stupid of him 'cause his curse is passed down in his family, and he doesn't wanna get married, I heard him tell Inuyasha once..."  
  
"You did?" Sango came in and set breakfast down, trying and failing to hide her curiosity. "What did he say?"  
  
"Uh..." Kagome caught Sango's eye and tactfully ceased feeding the kit, freeing his mouth to talk for a moment. He looked up at her pleadingly, but she indicated Sango with a tilt of her head and he sighed. "He's gonna be mad I told you...but I think he said that even though Naraku's dead, his curse isn't going away, and he doesn't know how to break it, so if he gets married he'll just hurt his wife 'cause he's gonna die soon, and then if he has a son, he'll just be passing the curse onto an orphan." Shippou eyed Kagome's chopsticks, but both women were staring at him, and he tugged at Kagome's hand. "That's all, it really is. Can I eat now?"  
  
"Oh! Sure, sorry, Shippou-chan." Kagome had taken to feeding him herself the past few mornings as part of her unofficial plan to spoil him rotten while she was here, and took it up again now. "How awful for him. I never would've suspected from the way he acts, either."  
  
"No," Sango agreed quietly, poking at her rice rather than eating it. "It explains a great deal I couldn't figure out before."  
  
"Like what?" Kagome asked, sighing as the kit finished and bounded off her lap: he'd eaten almost three-quarters of her meal today.  
  
"Like the way he flirts with every maid in the castle but always makes sure to get caught just in time, or the fact that for all his grabbing and leering and asking lewd questions, he sleeps alone in the room next to Inuyasha's every night..." Sango scooped up more rice, raised it to her mouth, and then set it down with a sigh.  
  
"Um..." Kagome hesitated, wondering if it would be proper to ask just how Sango knew all this. "Uh...Sango? How do you know all this?"  
  
"I keep my ears open. I haven't been able to so much these past days..." Sango stiffened and raised her voice ever so slightly. "But I doubt the lecher has changed so much in the past week that I can't feel him listening _right behind us_, of course!"  
  
"My, Sango-sama," the monk said cheerfully, sliding open the shoji. "I do believe our relationship is suffering some improvement. Not only do you detect me seconds after I pause for breath in the vicinity..."  
  
He politely ignored her mutter of, "Yes, breath, I'm certain, you eavesdropping rat."  
  
"...but you also failed to greet me with any kind of flying object, curse or threat. I am most encouraged." And he bowed, smiling, so full of charm Kagome swore she could see little sparkles flying off him. She glanced at Sango and saw she wasn't the only one in the room who thought so.  
  
"That can always change, houshi-sama," Sango said dryly. "Now, what do you want?"  
  
"Ah, yes." The monk sat down a discreet distance away and folded his arms over his staff. "I come bearing news of grave significance for Inuyasha's peace of mind. It would seem that Kouga has discovered that his asking after you annoys Inuyasha greatly. I wouldn't be surprised if your suggestion of spending more time together last night began to receive serious consideration tonight."  
  
"He told you about that?" Miroku nodded. "I see. I'd rather he want to hang out to get to know me, not to annoy Kouga, of course, but whatever works, I guess."  
  
Miroku coughed. "Yes, it would seem that whatever happened last night...something about talking about emotions, I believe? It made quite the impression on Inuyasha. I could hear him mumbling and pacing throughout the night." He gave Kagome another of his grins. "You're already causing him nightly discomfort. Most impressive, Kagome-sama."  
  
"You make it sound so wrong!" Kagome protested, and Sango expressed concurrence by whacking the monk lightly in the back of the head.  
  
"Perhaps, perhaps," Miroku said hastily, backing away further and rising to his feet. "But the fact remains that you do appear to be making some sort of progress with our lord. Whatever it is you are doing, please continue. Even if you choose not to marry him, we should at least be able to derive some entertainment before..." He had to trail off, but now Kagome could mentally fill in the blank: before our messy and untimely deaths.  
  
"I wished only to warn you before you ventured out for the day." Miroku bowed. "Kagome-sama. Sango-sama."  
  
"Er...houshi-sama?" Sango's voice stopped him halfway out of the room. He turned and looked back; his gentle, inquiring expression seemed to embarrass her, and she shook her head. "...Never mind. I apologize."  
  
Miroku raised an eyebrow, but only inclined his head and slid the shoji closed behind him.  
  
Kagome could hardly restrain herself till he was out of earshot. "And what was that, Sango-chan?"  
  
"What was what?" The slayer leapt to the defensive. "What do you mean?"  
  
"You know exactly what I mean! You like him!"  
  
Sango almost dropped her chopsticks. Then she cleared her throat and began to eat again. When she spoke, her tone was almost convincing, even with her face glowing light pink. "You cannot _possibly_ be serious. He's a liar, a lecher, and his only goal in life is to grope as many females as he can before his time comes!"  
  
"Did you ever ask him why he lied to get you to agree?" Oops. So much for letting her find out from him. Time for damage control... "I mean, maybe he actually had a good reason."  
  
"What possible reason could he have for manipulating us both?" Sango glared at her over the edge of her bowl. "Did he tell you?"  
  
"Why don't you ask him?" Kagome smirked as her friend's face darkened. As fair-skinned as they both were, she felt rather bad for Sango: her training had obviously failed to prepare her for situations like this, while Kagome had been professionally hiding her feelings for years. _Till I got here, anyway. Stupid Inuyasha...  
_  
"Because he refuses to discuss anything more serious than my willingness to hold still while his hands wander." Sango glanced at Shippou for support, but the kit was snoozing on the bed, stuffed and dead to the world.  
  
"Maybe he does that on purpose," Kagome said thoughtfully, setting her dishes down on the breakfast tray. Sango frowned at her and shook her head, but Kagome plowed on. "Think about it. He's not dumb, we know that much. Look at how fast he learned to type. And you'd think he was only stupid when it comes to dealing with women, but if Shippou-chan is right and he really doesn't want to get close to anyone, and if he knows that his lechery annoys you, then he knows that's the best way to keep his distance, and that's why he won't stop groping you!" Kagome clapped her hands. "See, it makes perfect sense!"  
  
"If this is what you did to Inuyasha, no wonder he got angry," Sango muttered, gathering up the dishes. "You're completely stretching things."  
  
"Am I?" Kagome grinned as Sango grew even redder. "I'm not gonna be here forever, so I figure I might as well just come out and say this stuff." _Watching daytime psychiatry talk shows actually had a benefit! I'll be damned!  
_  
"Well, it's a lovely theory, Kagome-chan, but he's just a pervert, and that's all." Sango picked the tray up.  
  
"And what if he isn't?" Kagome asked softly. She regretted it instantly as her friend's shoulders hunched.  
  
"He is," Sango said harshly, nearly tearing the shoji open and hurrying out.  
  
_Crap...stupid, stupid, stupid!_ Kagome berated herself. _If you think you're so smart about people, use it to figure out that it doesn't matter if they really like each other, 'cause he's cursed, gonna die soon no matter what, and they both need to keep their distance! And figure it out BEFORE you rub it in her face! Idiot!  
_  
"I'm sorry, Sango-chan," she said quietly as the slayer came back. "I won't bother you about it any more."  
  
"No, it's all right," Sango replied, still a little uncomfortable. She managed a smile. "We shouldn't head out till Kouga's had the chance to look for you and figures out that Inuyasha rigged this wing of the castle to forbid him entry. Why don't we look through your things like we talked about the other day?"  
  
Kagome laughed. "Sure." She moved onto the bed, scooping Shippou up and settling him on her pillow. "So what did he do, put up a 'No Wolves' sign?"  
  
Sango echoed her and began pulling out a few of the trunks they'd filled with Kagome's things. "No, he did something that enables this room and the ones around it to recognize Kouga's youki – his demon energy – and become solid wood. I wouldn't be surprised if he also somehow set it to reform automatically, because knowing Kouga, he'll just try to punch through."  
  
"That's kinda funny, in a scary way." Kagome didn't like the idea of having to stay in here all the time, but she doubted Kouga would eat her or anything if she went out. Besides, it was kind of nice to think Inuyasha was willing to expend that much effort to defend her. "Here, lemme show you my Discman."  
  
Sango watched and listened in rapt fascination as Kagome removed her favorite CD, explained how the patterns on the bottom of the disc contained a special code that the 'Discman' device translated into sound, and slipped the CD back in and held up her earphones. "These transmit the sound to your ears. They're designed to fit over your head, but I'll just let you listen like this till you get used to it."  
  
Kagome clicked a button, held up the Discman so she could see the disc suddenly begin to spin at an impossible speed, and turned a tiny black wheel in the side of the device. Sango's mouth fell open, and Kagome winked at her. "This controls volume. It should start...now!"  
  
Right on cue, sound began pouring from the soft black ends of the half-loop Kagome held up, and Sango leaned away. "What...what in the...?"  
  
"It's music. Here, listen." Kagome offered the headphones, and Sango tentatively accepted it and held it near her ears. "Never heard anything like it, have you?"  
  
"Definitely not." It was a girl singing in a low, sweet alto, with several strange instruments and occasionally more female voices joining with the first. She could understand the words, which were as melancholy as the beautiful voices and instruments. Music in her era was limited to plays, religious ceremonies and chanting or solitary voice and accompaniment at the very most, and as she heard even those very rarely, Sango listened to this bittersweet tapestry with nothing short of dumbfoundment. "I think I like it...but is it all so sad?"  
  
"That one is a little depressing, yeah," Kagome agreed. "Each CD contains several songs, and each song is on its own track. To move between tracks, hit these buttons." She showed Sango the search buttons. "And this wheel here controls volume, of course. When you want to stop the music for a little while but then return soon, you hit this one, pause, then again to make restart where you left off...and then 'stop' here when you're done listening."  
  
"Incredible," Sango whispered, turning it over gently to study the writing. "What's a war-ran-ty?"  
  
"It tells whoever buys it that the people who created it promise that it works." Kagome tapped the space over the batteries. "This is where you put the objects that give the Discman the energy it needs to play songs. When they're drained, you just buy new ones at any store and put them in."  
  
Sango shook her head, carefully pressed the search button and jumped, nearly dropping the device and the headphones as electric guitar blared. "Whoa, be careful! These things are fragile." Kagome gently took the Discman back, but let Sango keep the 'phones. "That sound is made with a stringed instrument called an electric guitar. Remember how I said electricity is used for everything in this world?" Sango nodded, scrolling the volume down. "Well, it's also used to amplify sound, and we – younger people – tend to like our music very loud, like this."  
  
"I prefer the other song," Sango murmured, skipping the track and settling on a synthesized techno beat. "What instrument is this?"  
  
"It's called a synthesizer. It's a machine, a device that uses electricity and converts sound into different...uh...sounds. It can mimic other instruments and create almost any noise."  
  
"Oh? Is that why each song sounds so different?"  
  
"Well, that and the fact that I burned this mix myself—that is, I took several songs from different CDs and put them onto one disc for myself, like putting a bit of several different foods on one plate."  
  
Sango just shook her head. "And you have these incredible things just as toys?"  
  
"Well, most people tend to take music pretty seriously...people make billions of yen a year because the CDs can be produced in the millions pretty cheaply, and sold at a much higher price to thousands or millions of people all around the world. But, basically, yeah, I guess it is a toy." Kagome was rather enjoying the explanations, but decided to ease up for now: Sango looked as if the concepts involved were giving her a headache. The slayer was by no means stupid, but nothing in her experience was even remotely close to the thought of someone making millions of magic discs to sell around the world, and of such a thing being commonplace. If she'd heard the idea in her own time, she'd have had a good laugh and thought nothing else of it.  
  
The sound had woken the kitsune up, and he bounded over to sniff at the loud black thing Sango was holding. "What's that noise it's making? And how come it smells like your head, Kagome?"  
  
Kagome gave an abbreviated explanation, and Shippou quickly lost interest. "I'm gonna go see where Kouga is. I'll be back in later."  
  
"Thanks, Shippou-chan." Kagome waved as he bounded out and turned her attention back to Sango. "Wanna try putting them on now?"  
  
"I suppose." Sango permitted Kagome to demonstrate how to slip them over her head and settle them on the ears, then did so herself, turning the volume down slightly. Her eyes widened. "This is remarkable! It's like it's almost directly in my head!"  
  
"That's the idea," Kagome said, a bit loudly. "Want to try another CD?"  
  
It was almost time for lunch when Kagome declared that Sango needed a break, and the slayer reluctantly let her put the Discman and headphones up.  
  
"Ears feel funny, don't they?" Kagome smiled knowingly as Sango rubbed hers.  
  
"Yes, it does leave a strange feeling. It was worth it, th—"  
  
_Thud_ and the walls trembled slightly.  
  
The shoji flew open and Shippou dashed in, barreling right into Kagome's arms. "Kagomeeee! You gotta go stop them again!"  
  
"Those idiots..." Not a lot of effort to figure out who he meant. "C'mon, Sango, let's go."  
  
The fight had been moved to the courtyard this time; the crash had been one of them – likely Inuyasha, Kagome figured – hitting the wall near her room. The servants had gathered along the rails, at a fairly safe distance, and were watching with resigned interest. Kagome made Shippou get off at the steps just in case and hurried down to within ten or fifteen yards of the pair, who were leaping, twisting and slashing at each other with dizzying speed. Sango stepped protectively in front of Kagome, who gave her an exasperated look and contented herself with the fact that the fight was gradually moving their way anyway. _Not like it matters...it stopped snowing, at least. Guess he really likes fighting.  
_  
"HEY!" she yelled, hoping to get their attention again. "Would you guys cut it out?!"  
  
Both paused long enough to look her way...and then promptly returned to their battle. "Hey, there you are, Kagome!" Kouga shouted, waving with high good humor as Inuyasha cursed and swiped at his face. "Gimme a minute to shut dog-turd up and we can talk again, just the two of us!"  
  
Well, that sounded cozy and fun. Not.  
  
"Kagome! Get your ass back to your room!" Inuyasha shouted. His capacity for multitasking seemed unequal to Kouga's, though, and he went flying as Kouga flashed one foot at his ankle, jerked it from beneath him, and landed a spin-kick directly in his back.  
  
"Too slow!" And Kouga darted around, ahead of Inuyasha, and rammed him into the ground with an elbow drop.  
  
"That one had to hurt," Sango muttered, wincing with the rest of the servants.  
  
"Okay, that's enough!" Her indignation still up at both of them, but sympathies inclined towards the prone hanyou, Kagome and a very cautious Sango approached the pair as Kouga hovered just out of reach. Inuyasha certainly didn't look like he was getting up, but the wolf had learned what happened when he acted on assumption in fighting. "Are you idiots happy, or do you need to go mark a tree or something?!"  
  
"Whatcha getting so mad for?" Kouga scratched his head and grinned. "He can take worse than that and live. Might not be too happy about it, but he lost. What else would you expect from a dumbass half-breed?"  
  
"Oh, shut _up_, Kouga!" Kouga's face froze in comical shock as she brushed past him and dropped to her knees in the snow. "Hey, Inuyasha, are you all right?"  
  
"P..." Sure enough, Inuyasha was conscious. He craned his bleeding, aching neck to the side, just enough to glare at her with one eye. "P...piss...off."  
  
Kouga spat to the side and sauntered off towards the castle. "Fine by me if you wanna waste time with dog-turd here. I'll be up on our balcony later if you're lucky."  
  
"_Your_ balcony?" Inuyasha gritted, trying feebly to lean away as she leaned in closer.  
  
"I talked to him for a minute twice before, and it was in the same place. Now he wants you to think we're a couple or something. I told you you're easy to read. He's just trying to make you jealous."  
  
_"Jealous?!"_ The castle's lord sprang out of the snow like she'd lit a fire underneath him and forced himself to stand still, body screaming in pain. "Why the fuck would I be jealous if you and that filthy wolf wanna curl up somewhere?"  
  
"I dunno, same reason you're getting so bitchy about it, and probably the same reason you started your stupid testosterone-fest?" Kagome reached for his arm, but he stubbornly snatched it out of her reach, refusing to look at her. "Oh, for...look, I don't even like Kouga very much! And if I'm supposed to break the curse, which he is a part of, why else would he hit on me if not to try to make you jealous? He's just trying to make you look bad. Whether anyone likes me or not doesn't even matter."  
  
Slightly mollified, Inuyasha snorted and sat down hard in the snow, sulking and trying to ignore the burning throb in his back and side where Kouga's foot and elbow had struck. "That makes sense, I guess. But you still didn't have to interfere. I'm gettin' sick of it."  
  
"Okay, fine. If you wanna let him kill you, be my guest and excuse me for caring." She got to her feet, brushed her knees off and stalked back towards the steps. Then she stopped, came back and knelt again, reminding herself to apologize to Sango for this later. "And thanks for fixing my room to keep him out, but I have Sango and Shippou there to chaperone. I'm not gonna be sneaking him in, so you can save your energy and—"  
  
"That's not what I was worried about!" he snarled. "I know Sango and the runt are keeping an eye on you...or I did till you said you talked to the wimpy wolf alone..." His irate gaze slid to Sango, who bowed and murmured that it wouldn't happen again. "Damn straight. But I was thinkin' the next time you start reeking again, he might come after you, and like I said before, if he did, you'd be screwed more ways than one."  
  
"You jerk!" That last bit blotted out the little goodwill she'd been feeling for his openly worrying about her, with no excuses about the curse thrown in. Kagome shoved him over, forgetting his injuries, and he flopped back into a drift with a yelp of pain. "Do you _have_ to put it that way?! And Sango knows a way to keep me from reeking next month, so thank you very much for the consideration, but no thanks!"  
  
"Fine!" Inuyasha shifted back into a sitting position and folded his hands, hoping his grimace would be interpreted as sulking and not pain. "I'll tell him to go ahead the next time he asks if you're still available, then!"  
  
"The next time he asks, tell him to talk to me and I'll straighten him out myself!"  
  
Good. She hadn't noticed. "Fine, then! Get your ass back inside and straighten him out, if you want! I'm not stopping you!"  
  
Eyes blazing, Kagome got back up and marched to the steps, leaving him still in the snow as Sango followed her yet again, sighing at the back-and- forth repetitions. He willed her to move faster; as soon as she was inside, he could yell at the servants to get back to work and then go about the business of crawling back to his room. Where the hell was Miroku? Probably in the kitchens again, the lecherous, irresponsible—  
  
"Everyone, please go back to your duties."  
  
His eyes snapped to the bottom of the steps. Kagome had her arms folded at the waist, feet planted and was calling up to the servants with polite but very firm authority. "Your lord appreciates your concern, but the fight is over, and I wish to speak with him alone. You're all dismissed."  
  
Where the hell had this come from? Inuyasha grumbled internally about that 'concern' line – _damn lazy gawkers don't give a damn about me, probably hope he kills me someday soon_ – but watched with considerable surprise as the servants bowed nearly as one and filed back into the castle, leaving her standing there, and Inuyasha and Sango equally nonplused.  
  
"What was that?" he asked grumpily as Kagome came back to his side yet again.  
  
"More of my psychic powers at work," she teased, still delighted that the servants had actually listened to her. She was half-expecting them to just stare or something. "I'm sorry I pushed you like that. I forgot that you got pulverized. Can you get up at all?"  
  
"Feh" was his only response, and she shook her head, smiling.  
  
"I figured as much, and you didn't need the servants watching you just sitting here all day and waiting for you to get up and dismiss them. Now, what are the odds you'll let me or Sango help you up?"  
  
"Slim to none," Sango muttered, reaching down and swiftly hauling the growling lord to his feet. "And here's the houshi-sama to get you back to your room."  
  
"I...came...as..." Miroku paused to catch his breath, leaning heavily on his staff. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha, I was indisposed."  
  
"I'll bet," Sango snapped, picking a long black hair off the edge of his staff. "Have you been giving haircuts again, houshi-sama?"  
  
"In the storage area of the kitchen, by the smell of it," Inuyasha added, tottering slightly and shaking off Miroku's offer of assistance. "I don't need any of your help, thanks, so leave me alone."  
  
"I told you, you're a crappy liar." Kagome ignored his protests and ducked under his arm to support his injured side. "Oh, quit growling, you big faker. I'll let you fall on your face as soon as we get up the steps."  
  
"Shut up." But that was all: Sango and Miroku watched open-mouthed as Inuyasha fixed his eyes ahead but otherwise permitted the girl to help him up the icy steps and to the door. They couldn't hear the brief spate of argument once the pair reached the entrance, but Inuyasha staggered away as swiftly as he could, and Kagome threw up her arms in obvious disgust as her friends recovered and hurried up the steps.  
  
"Can you believe him?" she asked in rhetorical disgust as they stopped near her. "I practically carry the jerk up and he acts like I kicked him in the face and spat on him! It's not like I was the one who beat him into a pulp! I swear, that pride of his is gonna kill him one d—"  
  
Whoops. That was a little too potentially prophetic for comfort. She stopped, and Miroku hastened to fill in the gap. "You mustn't be offended, Kagome-sama. On the contrary, I've never seen Inuyasha give in so easily, and I've known him for about fifteen waking years. He must feel immensely comfortable around you already."  
  
"Nah, he was just in too much pain to move by himself. 'Sides, I didn't give him a choice." Kagome ignored both monk and slayer's obvious disagreement and her own curiosity. _He did give in without much fuss for him..._ "I hope the stubborn moron falls and breaks his nose, too! Sorry for the runaround, Sango, but I think Kouga deserves a piece of my mind right now, while I'm still ticked. Let's go!"  
  
And they were off, though not before Sango and Miroku exchanged one more round of raised eyebrows.

* * *

"Hey, woman, took you long enough," Kouga greeted her on the balcony, lounging against the rail. He sniffed, and his face hardened. "And why do you smell like dog-turd?"  
  
"Because we just had an extended makeout session," she said sardonically. "I just helped him up, that was all. It's really none of your business what I smell like, though, is it?"  
  
"Maybe it should be." Grinning, he approached her and looked her up and down speculatively.  
  
"Stop that!" she snapped. "I'm not a piece of meat. Quit looking at me like you're gonna eat me or something."  
  
"Ah, the lady has a point." Kouga stepped back and bowed, much more courtly and less mocking than before. "Do forgive me. Toying with the dog-turd by using you is pretty low, I admit. It's just too much fun. Couldn't help myself."  
  
"Accepted," Kagome said warily, wondering if this was a new act.  
  
"We got off on the wrong foot. I'm Kouga, prince and servant of the western wolf-demon tribe. Pleased to meet you." He bowed again, and Kagome blinked.  
  
"Uh...Higurashi Kagome. Pleased to meet you." She bowed.  
  
"Good. And another thing—you know I'm not gonna force it on you, right?"  
  
_Damn, he's going right down the list!_ "I...do now, I guess. Thanks." Her voice even sounded steady.  
  
Kouga grinned. "Nice. I didn't wanna go about this with you thinkin' you have to watch me every second. Not that I mind if you do, of course, just not like that."  
  
Warning bells sounded. "Go about this?" she repeated.  
  
"Yep. You seem to be the kinda woman who likes to be up front, and I like that, so I'll do that." He suddenly grabbed her hands, ignoring Sango's loud cough from the doorway. "The way I figure it, there's no way in hell you'd ever go with the dog-turd. Am I right?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
Kouga seemed vastly encouraged by the lack of a flat refusal. "See? Then you're not really taken at all. If the curse ain't getting broken, we may as well make good use of the time we have left, eh?"  
  
Uh oh. "What exactly are you trying to say?" She tried vainly to tug her hands free.  
  
"I'm not saying I wanna play and then forget about you." He suddenly became somber, and his ice-blue eyes fixed on hers. She gulped. "I think you should be my woman."  
  
"Whaaaa—"  
  
"I can protect you from the dog-turd, and we can escape here when the curse ends," Kouga pointed out, undeterred by her strangled response. "It's actually a perfect idea once you think about it. Yeah, sounds good to me. So you're mine now, th—"  
  
"No, I am not." Kagome found her voice and glanced over her shoulder for help. Sango speedily approached and got Kouga's attention by stepping as far between them as she could with their hands still joined.  
  
"What're you interrupting for, wench?" he asked irritably, trying to move them away from her.  
  
"Kagome-sama has rejected your proposal, and it's improper for you to maintain contact with an unclaimed female," Sango said coldly.  
  
"You did?" Kouga looked at Kagome in surprise. She nodded rapidly, and he released her hands—seemingly only so he could scratch his head. "Why not? What's wrong with me?"  
  
"I don't know you at all! You can't just propose and expect me to agree right off the bat!" Kagome didn't mind this time when Sango edged in front of her.  
  
"So? Why not?" Kouga demanded.  
  
"Human females expect to be courted, and only after _they_ express interest, Kouga-sama," Sango answered. "She is not a wolf demon to be claimed, and cannot fight you to express her lack of willingness."  
  
"Ohhh, I get it." Kouga grinned. "So I gotta work for it, eh? That's a pain in the ass. But worth it!" He looked out into the courtyard and sniffed the air. "Dog-turd must like getting beaten. S'getting warmer already. Later, Kagome!" Without bothering with the rail, Kouga leapt straight out from the middle of the balcony, landed on one foot with easy grace, and pelted off into the woods.  
  
"Showing off for you," Sango sighed, running a hand through her dark brown hair. "Sorry, Kagome-chan, I tried."  
  
"No, you were a big help. I don't think there's anything I could do short of putting on a collar with Inuyasha's name on it, and I doubt even that would help." Kagome also sighed. "We already missed lunch. Let's go see what we can scare up from the kitchens."  
  
After a brief meal of leftovers, they filled Shippou in on what happened. The kit had awoke partly from the smell of wolf left on Kagome's hands. "Ewwww," Shippou declared, wrinkling his little nose. "You don't actually like him, do you? Even Inuyasha would be better than that."  
  
"No, I don't like him." Kagome sighed. "Even I can smell it. I better go take a bath early. Want to come, Sango-chan?"  
  
"Of course." Sango paused in the act of gathering clean clothing and smiled at Shippou. "Would you like to join us?"  
  
"Yeah!" Shippou leapt onto Kagome's shoulder. "You don't mind, do you, Kagome?"  
  
"Well..." With his nose, he probably knew a few basics of biology already, so hopefully she wouldn't have to explain certain things to him. And he was too little to worry about him seeing them, either. "Sure."

* * *

One very messy bath (and one tub minus a water-war's worth of hot water) later, the trio headed outside on Shippou's insistence, and to their surprise, he was right.  
  
"The sun really is out!" Kagome peered up at the breaks in the clouds. "Wow...at this rate, the snow'll be gone by this time tomorrow."  
  
"And we can have a mud fight!" The idea excited Shippou so much that he wriggled off her shoulder and began hopping along the railing, tail and ponytail bobbing with his hummed chant. "Mud, mud, sun, mud, sun..."  
  
Kagome watched his odd war dance and shook her head, amusement warring with concern. He was prancing over at least a twenty-five-foot drop, nothing but snow to break his fall. "Stop it, Shippou-chan, or you're gonna—"  
  
Shippou's left paw promptly slipped, and he slid off the side with a squeak of panic. Sango made a grab for him, but a blur of red brushed her aside and hauled the kit up by the tail. "Too slow," Inuyasha growled, plunking the frightened boy back in Kagome's arms. "Some babysitter you are."  
  
Kagome was too relieved to do anything but glare at him before turning her attention to soothing Shippou. Sango eyed Inuyasha as he sauntered back to the castle entrance. "And what are you doing out here?"  
  
"Stalking me again," Kagome volunteered, then began humming and patting the sniffling kitsune again.  
  
Inuyasha shrugged, sufficiently healed now to pretend it didn't hurt. "Just got hungry early again. No big thing."  
  
"It's still afternoon," Sango said dryly. "That's very early to be eating dinner."  
  
"Shut up, wench. I eat when I want."  
  
Sango scowled. _I will never understand how Kagome and Miroku put up with him.  
_  
"I just ate, Inuyasha," Kagome said around Shippou's hair. "But if you'll wait a few minutes, I'll come up and sit with you."  
  
"Feh! Hurry it up." Inuyasha stalked back inside, but settled into a corner near the stairs, clearing the area of servants with a few well-placed glares.

* * *

"You really spoil the kid too much," he grumbled as they made their way to the dining room. Sango had been dispatched to order dinner early today, and so they had nothing to do when they arrived but sit down and snipe at each other.  
  
"He's an orphan and he just got a bad scare," she said defensively. "Why wouldn't I try to calm him down?"  
  
"He would've been fine. He's a demon, remember? Besides, he can do this weird floating thing. Ask him to show you outside sometime. You're just turning him into an even bigger weakling than he already is."  
  
"Don't make me give you more metaphors..."  
  
"Keh."  
  
"Fine! If you're building a new house – not a shed or a hut, but a house – would you give it a half-ass foundation, or would you try to make it as strong as possible?"  
  
"You make it strong—by _not_ coddling it!"  
  
"Ah, you catch on quick, grasshopper—but you don't make children strong and confident and healthy by shoving them away as soon as they can walk! You give 'em love, support and let them be kids for a while! Piling adult responsibilities and BS macho attitudes on him when he's not big enough to reach past my knees will just screw him up!"  
  
"And how do you know all this? How many kids have you raised in your long and full life, wise one?"  
  
"It's common sense."  
  
"Says who?"  
  
"Says _me_, you lunkhead!"  
  
"What the hell is a lunkhead?"  
  
Kagome smiled. "You."  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. _Walked right into that one.  
_  
He hated to admit it, but he was actually grateful he'd wandered down in time to grab the runt. The incident had distracted her from this morning's fight and his humiliation quite nicely. _Last thing I need is her thinking I'm some kind of needy weakling._ If he hadn't been so mad at the bouzu for putting him in that position, he never would've—  
  
"Thanks for saving him."  
  
_Twitch_. She was always doing that to him, it seemed. "I told you, he would've been fine. I shoulda let him go and taught him to pay for his mistakes."  
  
"You wouldn't have let him fall." Kagome shrugged.  
  
"Don't bet on it," he growled, but she just smiled again.  
  
Inuyasha was extremely grateful when the food arrived. His snorts were getting less and less effective, and memories of last night were starting to drift around his brain, which seemed suddenly determined to keep him even more on the defensive than normal. That would usually be fine with him, but with that and his still-painful injuries knitting up, it was wearing him out.  
  
"Uh..." He glanced up at her soft start. "I should probably tell you now, so you don't hear the wrong thing from Kouga..."  
  
Inuyasha's lips curled into a snarl at the name. "What?"  
  
"Uh...he...kinda proposed to me. I said no, but he seems pretty stubborn about it." She waited for it...  
  
Inuyasha didn't move for a moment...and then he shrugged. "So?"  
  
"So?" She stared at him. "You got into a deathmatch because he wanted to talk to me, and all you can say now is _so_?"  
  
"Yeah. What, are you ears broken?" He continued eating, seemingly unruffled.  
  
Well, this was interesting. She couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Maybe he was pretending to piss her off?...Possible...but if that was it, he was going a great job, and it was working.  
  
_I think it's working._ As promised, Miroku had taught him a few simple mental tricks for keeping one's mind calm, and though it was waaaay more work to keep it up than he liked, it did seem to be working. The moment she said 'proposed' and his mind began roiling, he just shut it off, and now he genuinely didn't care and she was getting flustered. Perfect.  
  
Kagome had no idea what to think of it. To go from such unreasoning anger to complete indifference in a few hours was not possible for Inuyasha. Something had to be up. "So you don't care that he's treating your hostage like a potential mate, mocking the fact that my very purpose for being here is to agree to marry you, is that it?"  
  
His eye twitched, but that was all. "Correct."  
  
On the outside, anyway. His mind was straining to hold onto that enveloping calm, but it was not easy when she had a point and he agreed in the first place.  
  
"Ah." Kagome definitely smelled something up and wondered how much more it would take to crack him. "That's good, 'cause he also indicated that as soon as the curse's time was up, he'd be able to grab me and run off."  
  
_Close. VERY CLOSE._ "And did he indicate any other details about the curse's time being up?" He took a tiny sip of sake.  
  
"Oh, no, he just mentioned something about running off. Sango even told him I'm not a wolf and he can't just claim me, but now he thinks he can court me like a human. Doesn't that include his giving me gifts, openly, by the way?"  
  
_Snap_ went the calm and **bam** went his fist on the tatami floor. "He wants to court you like a fucking _human_?!"  
  
"That's what he said," she replied, marking down another 10,000 points for herself. "I said no, and you can ask Sango if you don't believe me."  
  
"Well, you must not have said it very well!" Inuyasha yelled.  
  
Kagome frowned. "You don't have to shout. It's not like I liked him grabbing me and telling me I'm his, you know."  
  
"Grabbing—?!" Inuyasha leapt to his feet. "I'll kill him!"  
  
"Sit down!" Her voice lashed at him, and he flinched and dropped to his feet. Where was this coming from?! "What do you care if he grabbed me? Only Sango saw."  
  
"You are _not_ his," Inuyasha spat, nearly crushing his sake cup. "If I don't kill him, he's never going to get that!"  
  
"Of course I'm not his. Any of the servants who were watching this morning know that, too, and there's no one else around to see, so relax. I'm sick of you two fighting anyway."  
  
"That's none of your business!"  
  
"It is too! It's an embarrassment just knowing you're going at it like little kids, and besides, I don't like seeing you get hurt!"  
  
There it was again. She'd said something similar earlier, when she told Kouga to shut up. Just the memory made him want to smirk. He shoved it aside now, as he'd done then.  
  
_And when she told the servants to go and saved you your dignity, and took it on herself to help you without getting disgusted about having to touch you, or the—_  
  
"Don't like seeing me get hurt? What, does blood make you that squeamish? Or did having to haul my ass up those steps bug you that much?"  
  
Kagome had been waiting for him to bring that one up. It had very obviously bugged the hell out of him. "You know perfectly well I did it voluntarily, and I just wanted to help. If I thought you were disgusting or whatever ridiculous ideas you have, I would've made Sango and Miroku take you up. And for your information, I don't like seeing anyone get hurt."  
  
Inuyasha relaxed at that one. _See? Anyone. You're not a special case._ "Fine, then, wench, we'll fight where you won't see. On the roof, maybe."  
  
Kagome stuck her tongue out. "I bet there's not even any space for that up there. It's all angles."  
  
"Oh, yeah?" He smirked at her. "I'll take you there and prove you wrong sometime. There's a pavilion Dad built up there so he and Mom could be alone."  
  
"Ooooh!" She had to restrain herself from jumping up and tugging on his hand. "I wanna see! Can we go now?"  
  
Inuyasha smirked, but with only a hint of his usual arrogance. "Not now, wench. It's still frozen. Maybe later, after the ice is melted."  
  
"I'd like that," she said softly, and it was only then that it occurred to Inuyasha that he'd just told her about a place not even Miroku knew about. He suppressed a growl. _This's what I get for talking to her. I knew I should've stuck to what I said last night!  
_  
Kagome was also quiet, sensing that he was probably regretting his offer. _Well, I'm not giving him an excuse to renege or be sorry he made it.  
_  
"It's already been seven days since I came here," she said after a few quiet but not uncomfortable minutes.  
  
"Really?" He glanced up.  
  
"Well, I think so. I kinda lost track of the days."  
  
"Hmph. Feels like forever."  
  
_And we're back to normal yet again._ "What would you have done if Dad hadn't wandered in and I hadn't shown up?"  
  
"I would've had to send Kirara out looking for women." He made a face. "I hate saying that. After 250 or 500 years, you kinda lose the feeling that you know your vassals well enough to be able to pick any of 'em to randomly ask to marry you."  
  
"That reminds me..." Kagome shifted. "Kouga said you woke up after only 7 years this time, when it was supposed to be 250?"  
  
Inuyasha growled deep in his throat. "If it'll shut you up...yeah, we ended our second chance only 7 years ago. I woke up because I felt someone close by. Turned out to be your st-father."  
  
Kagome was grateful for the catch. "And you did save his life. I never thanked you for that."  
  
"Yeah, guess I did. Sent Shippou out half-awake – not all formed yet – and then put him back so he could wake up on his own after he'd helped your dad come in."  
  
"Half-awake? Weird. I wonder why Shippou never mentioned it to me?"  
  
"They don't remember things that happen when they're like that. They take orders easily, too. I had most of the servants like that the second time we woke up, but the bouzu and Sango both complained."  
  
Kagome laughed, and Inuyasha almost cracked a smile. "Not enough variety for him, and no relief from him for her. Poor things."  
  
"Yep."  
  
For some reason, the rest of the meal managed to pass in comfortable silence. Inuyasha was actually a bit sorry when they both finished and he rose to his feet. "Well, you know the drill, wench. Will you marry me?"  
  
"And you know the answer. Nope, I won't marry you."  
  
"Yep. Good n—"  
  
"Wait."  
  
He paused. Damn. Things were going just fine, and now... "Yeah, what is it?"  
  
"Could we eat out on the pavilion tomorrow? Please?"  
  
Inuyasha really knew he should just dismiss it, but as he formed the words to do so, it occurred to him that he'd rather put up with the hassle of taking her up there than risk making her yell or cry, and the way she was smiling at him, it'd be one or the other. _Not worth it...dammit._ "Fine, wench. Be ready before the sun goes down."  
  
"Yaaay!" She clapped and beamed at him. "Thank you so much!"  
  
He stared at her in disbelief. "You can't be _that_ easily amused. What's the catch? You gonna jump off and leave me to explain it to Sango?"  
  
Kagome laughed. "No! I'm just looking forward to it." She grinned again and bowed. "Thanks so much, Inuyasha. Good night."  
  
"Feh." And he was gone, willing himself to be grumpy about being forced to take her up there. It worked, of course, like it always did, but he was a bit worried: what would happen if she pulled something like this again, and it _didn't _work?

* * *

A/N: There we have it. I was gonna end on a cliffie, but since I can't update till Wednesday at this rate, this'll have to do for now.  
  
Now, a few reviewer responses:  
  
Mage of Swords: Wow, thanks so much! I'm glad you like it so much already. And I have thought of that, actually. Don't worry, I got it covered. Just wait a bit, and all will be revealed. Good catch. ;D  
  
Dracling: I'm a new author, so no one bothers to click...for now. Mwa ha ha. Thanks for the kind words. And about the guys sweating, I actually was vaguely aware of that, but I don't know enough about it to use it confidently. Besides, Kagome doesn't need pheromones to be attracted to him without a shirt, remember? (Who does? :D) But thanks for thinking to point it out.   
  
kitsunefire: Thanks. I have way too much time on my hands, and I love it. : ) And no blatant grammatical errors are good, especially considering I always type between 1-11 a.m...  
  
CheeseLemon: No, it was actually just after. Weird, ne? But you were close. You can have the e-cookie anyway.  
  
I'm rapidly running out of time, but bazillions of thanks to everyone, especially repeaters like Kagome Sengoku. If I didn't mention you here, I'm sorry! I still love you! I personally hate reading reviewer responses, so I won't do these too often, but then again, I like doing this now that I'm WRITING it, so we'll just see...plus I feel like poo leaving so many people unmentioned. :'(  
  
Eep, must take off now so I can upload and hit the road before traffic! See you Wednesday! 


	9. Discovery

Disclaimer: We all know I don't own Inuyasha and co. And if you didn't, well, you do now. That'll be five bucks.  
  
A/N: Hidey-ho, guys 'n non-males (for those of you who think 'guys' means only males...I personally apply the term to myself, friends, and pretty much everyone else, but I know not everyone does). And as a side note, I don't have any of this written out already on my computer or anything: I just start typing and upload when I'm done. I even ran out of outline two chapters ago. :'D But I have a pretty good idea of what goes where, so no "Sorry, but I'm tired of this" after five more chapters or anything. No worries, ja?  
  
And while I'm here, big ol' me-style thanks to moonsilver (everyone go read "Trapped" if you haven't already: simple premise plus great writing plus daily Naraku-bashing equals a lot of fun :D), and to everyone else who's reviewed. Now that I'm fresh from raiding my bro's manga collection and his roommate's South Park collection, I feel ready for...

* * *

**Beast**  
  
**Chapter 9**  
  
Uncomfortable warmth and faint wisps of music prodded Kagome gently out of sleep the next morning, just a few hours before noon. She groggily slid the comforter onto the floor, stretching her legs off the edge of the bed to cool her skin down. "S'hot in here," she mumbled. Shippou was nowhere to be seen, and the hollow next to her pillow was no warmer than the rest of the bed: he'd been gone for a while.  
  
Sango poked her head around the corner of the TV box, and Kagome was not surprised to see that she was wearing the headphones. "Good morning, Kagome-chan," Sango said loudly, forgetting that Kagome couldn't hear the music and didn't need it.  
  
Kagome made a plucking motion on both sides of her head, and the slayer obediently pulled the headphones off, tapping the pause button. "I swear, you're already a Hamazaki addict," Kagome muttered, pulling her hair off her neck. "Why's it so hot in here?"  
  
"I didn't see the need to wake you for it, but there was some excitement earlier." Sango got up and sat down on the bed next to Kagome. "Kohaku found the room where Inuyasha's sword was sealed."  
  
"His sword?" Kagome yawned. "Cool...but why was it sealed?"  
  
In response, Sango leaned over and picked up the laptop, and Kagome watched her unfold it and begin to type, reading and translating to herself as Sango went. During dinner last night, Sango had acquired some ink and drawn the hiragana for A, I, U, E, O, and N onto each respective key to eliminate the need to look up single-character letters.  
  
_"Tetsusaiga was forged from his father's fang and has the power to kill 100 demons at a stroke. Inuyasha has missed having it."_  
  
"'Kay..." Kagome frowned and scratched her ribs, yawning again. "Why couldn't you just tell me that?"  
  
_"Because the sword was sealed as part of the curse. I'm surprised I could tell you it was sealed at all."_  
  
"Ahhhh, I get it. I figured he'd have whipped that thing out and tried to chop Kouga into sashimi already if he could've. Bet he's happy."  
  
"Yes," Sango agreed aloud. "Hence our weather." She reached for the headphones. "After we bathe, the houshi-sama and I have a few more things to discuss with you on your comp—"  
  
There was a distant sound, and both women looked up. It came again from a floor above them, sounding suspiciously like a bellowed curse.  
  
Sango pressed stop and put her head in her hands. "Gods. What's wrong with him now?"  
  
Kagome heaved a sigh. "Ugh. Looks like the bath can wait. I think this is probably more important. We'd better go see."  
  
As it turned out, she was extremely right. "What the fucking hell do you want?!" Inuyasha greeted them, brandishing a katana in a sleek black sheath.  
  
"Morning, sunshine," Kagome griped, massaging her ears. "What's your problem? My family can probably hear you right now."  
  
"My problem is whatever the hell someone did to my sword! Look at this!" Inuyasha placed one hand carefully on the hilt, claws overlapping slightly so that he had to adjust his grip to keep from gouging himself, and pulled. Nothing happened. "The worthless piece of scrap iron is stuck!"  
  
"Let me see that." Sango held her hand out.  
  
"What, am I doing something wrong, wench? I've had this damn thing since I was eleven years old, and I know how it works! You hold the damn sheath, pull the damn hilt, and the damn sword comes out! If I missed something, you can tell me! Otherwise, leave me the hell alone!"  
  
"Don't take it out on her, Inuyasha," Kagome snapped. "Maybe whoever sealed it in the room also put something on the sword."  
  
Inuyasha glared at her and sniffed at the sheath, then the hilt. "All I smell are humans, and none of the ones I smell could've put anything on here like the one that hid the room 'n the first place. Lucky the spell wore off and the brat found it at all."  
  
"That _brat_ is my brother," Sango pointed out through gritted teeth.  
  
"Oh, yeah. Good for him." Inuyasha tugged a few more times. "Piece of...!"  
  
Kagome chewed her lip as the blade refused to come loose and his language deteriorated. If this kept up, he was going to hurt someone, most likely himself, not to mention the weather would go back to snow and ice. And Sango wasn't looking much better. "Look, Inuyasha, have you asked Miroku? He'd know about spells and stuff, right?"  
  
"BOUZU! YOUR ASS! HERE! NOW!"  
  
Said monk came running, literally, scowling. "Really, Inuyasha, you promised to wait till I was finished to unsheathe the Tetsusai—what is it?"  
  
"Finished what?" Sango snapped, and Miroku studiously ignored her existence for the moment, much less her question.  
  
"Is there any kind of spell on it?" Inuyasha thrust the sheath into Miroku's hands. "Fix it, dammit! I want my sword back!"  
  
Kagome only resisted the temptation to laugh at Inuyasha's sulkiness because he looked ready, willing and able to kill anything at the moment, including Miroku, as the monk shook his head and held it back out to him. "Nothing I can detect to cause any pr—"  
  
"Don't give me that!" Inuyasha snatched the sheath away and shoved it at Sango. "Here, dammit. If you know so much, you fix it!"  
  
Sango examined the sheath thoroughly. "Hmmmm...perhaps it's a twist mechanism. Grab the hilt, would you, Kagome-chan?"  
  
"There's no crap like that with my sword," Inuyasha grumbled, but the slayer paid no attention.  
  
"All right, Kagome-chan, got it?" Kagome took a firm grip on the hilt's soft, well-worn leather and nodded. "Don't pull till I tell y—"  
  
Out of sheer curiosity, Kagome gave a little tug, and the blade slid from the sheath with a gentle whisper of metal scraping metal.  
  
Four jaws dropped, and no one moved for a few seconds. Kagome recovered first, and in her sudden embarrassment, she could only think to do one thing: she grabbed the sheath and nearly shoved the Tetsusaiga back in. "Sorry," she mumbled.  
  
_"What the hell did you do?!"_ Inuyasha grabbed the hilt and yanked to get the whole thing away from her and instead ended up nearly flailing for balance as the rusty, battered katana promptly came free.  
  
"Well, that was easy," Miroku remarked, watching Inuyasha sniff frantically at the sheath, then the blade.  
  
"What the hell happened?!" Inuyasha glared at each of them in turn, reserving the brunt of his wrath for Kagome. "I _knew_ you were some kind of witch! What the hell did you do to my sword?!"  
  
"I don't know! It just came loose! Don't look at me!" Kagome was just as shaken as he was—though she could appreciate that his ego was probably hurt worse than anything else right now. "Even if I somehow made it so you couldn't pull it out, why would I want to? I didn't even know the sword existed till a few minutes ago!"  
  
"She's right, Inuyasha," Sango said firmly. "Whatever the reason, snarling at her for it is fruitless. Do you know what happened, houshi-sama?"  
  
Miroku shook his head. "I'm afraid n—" He stopped, eyes going very wide. The other three stared at him, breathless.  
  
"It's nothing." Miroku smiled, but held up his staff and backed away defensively as they all advanced. "Seriously! I'm not certain why she could do it! I have my suspicions, but the curse—"  
  
"Get out of my sight!" Inuyasha roared, and the monk was only too happy to do so.  
  
Kagome stared at the blade. "Is that thing the Tetsusaiga?"  
  
"Of course it—" Inuyasha broke off and gave the katana a good look for the first time. "WHAT?!"  
  
"Myouga-sama wasn't joking when he said you'd be surprised." Sango frowned. "This is the first time you've been able to get your hands on it, correct?"  
  
"Okay, now I'm confused," Kagome said desperately. "If he's had it since he was eleven..."  
  
"He's had it, but not been permitted to draw it before he was able to properly wield it. This is the first time anyone's seen the blade unsheathed since it was forged, I'd imagine," Sango explained.  
  
"How did this happen?!" Inuyasha held out his arm and gave it a sharp blow with the rusty sword. "What a piece of crap! It wouldn't cut wet paper!"  
  
Kagome just barely remembered not to ask how it was supposed to be able to kill 100 demons at once: she wasn't supposed to know. "So what is this thing, anyway?" she asked him.  
  
"It's part of my dad's fang, s'posed to let me kill 100 demons in one blow, all-powerful, blah, blah, dammit!" The half-breed looked ready to snap the brittle metal in half. "I couldn't kill 100 _bugs_ with this! Someone must've stolen the real one and replaced it!"  
  
"You mean to tell us that the thief also replicated your father's bone and the other elements that make up the Tetsusaiga's sheath?" Sango folded her arms. "Not to mention the blade's scent? Whether you've smelled it before or no, you must be able to tell if that was ever a part of your father or not. Is it?"  
  
Inuyasha took another long series of sniffs. "Yeah," he finally admitted, clenching the hilt. "But why does it look like this?!"  
  
"Ask Myouga, if you can find him." Sango took Kagome by the elbow. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have things to attend to. And try to keep your temper under control. I wanted to go outside again later."  
  
There was a distant rumble of thunder. Both women cast Inuyasha dirty looks over their shoulders as they walked; he was too busy examining the sword and cursing under his breath to notice.

* * *

"So much for having a nice dinner outside tonight," Kagome complained, raising her voice over the rain spattering the roof. She hadn't given Inuyasha's secret away, only telling Sango that they were going to need dinner packed into boxes tonight. "I hope he figures it out soon. He can be such a baby sometimes."  
  
"I can sympathize—very little, but just enough," Sango replied, leaning back against the corner of the tub. "There's nothing quite like getting hold of a weapon you've always been forbidden to touch and then discovering it's broken or you can't wield it."  
  
"Are we speaking from experience?"  
  
"Unfortunately."  
  
Kagome sighed. "Yeah...I guess when you put it that way, it makes more sense. Nothing quite like getting a new toy and finding out it doesn't work." She laced her fingers together, turned her wrists inward and began splashing water up through her palms. "So he got the sword once his father died?"  
  
"Right before, yes, after the Inutaisho came back from a huge battle with bad wounds. Inuyasha received Tetsusaiga, and Sesshoumaru-sama was given another sword called Tenseiga. Immediately after their father's death, Sesshoumaru tried to take the Tetsusaiga by force, but the blade forbids full demons from touching it, and so he had to give up. That was another reason he chose to leave here, I think."  
  
"Why did he want Tetsusaiga if he had his own sword?" Kagome marked down another reason to hate Sesshoumaru: _Tried to take father's legacy from 11- year-old brother.  
_  
"Because Tenseiga cannot kill, or even wound." Kagome stopped playing with the water and looked up in surprise. Sango nodded. "It has the power to restore life, 100 lives with a single stroke. But he had no use for such a thing, he apparently said, and when he found that he was not going to be able to possess Tetsusaiga, it was more than he could bear."  
  
"Wow." Kagome idly noted that she needed to write this stuff down and publish it or something. It'd make a great novel...or what people would think was fiction, anyway. "So why couldn't Inuyasha play with Tetsusaiga before the curse hit?"  
  
"His mother was making him train with regular swords and learn control, technique and discipline before he started with the Tetsusaiga," Sango replied. "Iyazoi-sama was always like that: very gentle, but gods help you if she made a decision you didn't like, because her word was law."  
  
Kagome laughed. "I would've loved to meet her." Suddenly something hit her. "Wait. If she was there when K—"  
  
Sango lunged across the tub and clapped a hand across her mouth. _"Don't say that name aloud!"_ she hissed. "The houshi-sama told me why last night, and you're lucky I just remembered! Do not say anything till we can explain it more fully!"  
  
It was a good five minutes before Kagome opened her mouth again, even when the slayer retreated to her side of the tub. "Okay..." Sango glanced at her. "Sorry, Sango-chan. So if his mother was alive when..._she_ died, she was still alive when the curse hit?"  
  
"Can't tell," Sango answered shortly. "I once asked Inuyasha about...something related, and he nearly took my head off."  
  
"Gotcha. Let's go back to the laptop and see if we can find Miroku, shall we?"  
  
But the monk was nowhere to be found, and even with Shippou's help and several servants enlisted to help locate him, they finally had to give up soon after lunch. "I'll kill him," Sango grumbled, tapping irritably on the space bar. "Ten thousand silver says he's holed up somewhere in the woods with _company_."  
  
Kagome decided against calling Sango out on blatant jealousy and rummaged through her things instead. "It's raining too hard for much of anything right now, so let's see if I have something else for us to do in here...aha!" She triumphantly pulled out a small, rectangular package. "Thank God for cards!"  
  
"Cards?" Shippou grabbed the box and smelled it, then shook it. "What's this?"  
  
Kagome lifted the flap and slid the deck out. "Cards. See?" She flipped the stack upside down and thumbed through, showing them the numbers and pictures. "The numbers go from 2 to 10, then there are jacks, queen, kings, aces, and all of these in four suits."

It took quite a bit more explanation, but finally they began to understand what she meant, and Sango asked what their purpose was.  
  
"You use them to play games. They're a bit like dice, but you don't have to gamble with them. Everyone from children to old men plays with these." Kagome began shuffling the deck, showing off a bit, and her two listeners were suitably impressed. "Let me teach you a few easy ones, and then we can get to my favorites."  
  
This was easier said than done, but once they picked up Go Fish, which Shippou proved surprisingly adept at, Kagome proposed something a little more difficult. Both her friends, initially hesitant, soon caught on so well that she very nearly failed to notice when it was almost for dinner.  
  
"Four aces," Sango declared, laying her last four cards face-down with a slight smirk.  
  
"BS!" Kagome protested, then groaned as the slayer grinned. "You can't be serious!" She reached over and turned up the edges. "Aaaah, crap!"  
  
"Sango wins again," Shippou said with a yawn, toying with his six cards and watching Kagome scoop the rest of the deck into her already full hand. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for dinner or something, Kagome?"  
  
"CRAP!" Kagome leapt to her feet. "I completely forgot! Thanks, Shippou-chan!"  
  
"Don't you need any help?" Sango asked, piling all the cards into a single deck awkwardly as Kagome raced around the room, grabbing things at random from the trunks they'd forgotten to put back in the other room.  
  
"No, I want to do this myself, thanks," Kagome panted. "Show me where the kitchens are, would you?"  
  
Inuyasha spotted Kagome and Sango emerging from the kitchens several minutes later, carrying two large boxes. "Oi! What're you wenches doing?"  
  
"Getting ready for dinner," Kagome replied. "I'm not late, am I?"  
  
"Hell yes, you're late! The sun's almost down!" Inuyasha made as if to grab her arm, then checked himself at the last moment, scowling at his own slip. "C'mon, hurry up and follow me. Assuming you don't mind getting wet."  
  
"Of course not." Kagome thanked Sango quickly, taking the second box from her and setting off after Inuyasha, who was walking almost faster than she could run.  
  
"So what's in the boxes, wench?" He slowed just a bit as she caught up.  
  
"It's a surprise. I made some of it," she answered, pausing as one box began to slip from underneath her arm.  
  
"Lazy weakling." Inuyasha plucked it out of her grasp and sniffed at it. "Weird. Tell me this isn't what we're both gonna have to eat?"  
  
"You don't have to eat anything you don't want to." Kagome shrugged. "If you wanna go hungry, that's fine by me."  
  
"Feh. See if I ever do you any favors again." Inuyasha said nothing further as he led her past their usual dining room and further into the third floor than she'd ever been. Knowing she was on thin ice already, Kagome kept quite as they passed several more rooms that she would've loved to stop and explore. One in particular gave her an eerie feeling, as if something was telling her to stay away and come in at once. She would have shuddered, but Inuyasha glanced back at her as they passed it, and she quickly pretended nothing had happened.  
  
They finally stopped just outside a tiny side door that would've escaped Kagome's notice had she been alone. Inuyasha pushed it open and motioned for her to go first.  
  
Kagome stepped out into the dying sunlight and threw her free arm up to block the glare. There were still a few clouds out, but the warm air smelled like damp earth and rain, definitely more appealing than the slightly stale atmosphere inside. As her eyes adjusted, Kagome saw that this balcony must've been constructed specifically for moments like this: the sun, sinking towards the horizon, stained the sky crimson, pink and golden orange, and the colors dotted the ocean of trees surrounding the castle with a brilliant but rapidly receding sheen. "Damn, I wish I had a camera..." she murmured.  
  
"Quit gawking, wench." Inuyasha's voice shattered her peaceful awe, and she flipped him off without looking at him, knowing he didn't know its significance. "I'm guessing that hand thing doesn't mean, 'Sure, you're right,' so hop on and you'll see what I mean."  
  
Startled, she turned around, and he took her box, stacked it on his, and crouched. "C'mon, hurry up and get on or you'll miss it."  
  
"Get on...you?" she repeated stupidly. There was his back, and he _was_ glaring at her, but—  
  
"Yes, me. On my back. Unless you think I'm gonna drop you, of course?" His glare deepened, and he began to rise.  
  
"No! You just surprised me, that's all." She carefully stepped over to him, hesitated, and settled her arms around his neck, thankful that his hair provided a thick cover between his back and her front. She hadn't ridden piggyback since her dad took her on runs through the park when she was very small, and this was not her father. For one thing, hair or no, she could feel enough to know that her dad had never been in shape like this...  
  
Inuyasha tensed a little as she got comfortable, sniffing a little before he could stop himself. Aside from some fairly pleasant food odors, all she gave off was her own scent, no fear. Good.  
  
"Hold on tight, wench." That was all before his right arm came back to grip her lightly across the waist, boxes balanced on his other hand, and Kagome felt the muscles under her body jerk—and weightlessness.  
  
A sharp gasp was all she got out before her throat closed up. She reflexively buried her face in his white hair, gripping his shoulders with her upper arms and grasping her wrists in each hand, fists pressed below his throat to keep from strangling him. She could feel his chest rumbling in amusement, but the arm across her lower back kept her steady as the feeling of floating eased off, replaced by the gradual heaviness of rapid descent, and her stomach pitched as Inuyasha landed with a light thud.  
  
"There we go. Wasn't so bad, was it?" He released her waist and bent down to set the boxes on the rain-soaked ground—and coughed as something pressed against his throat. "Hey, Kagome? You can get off now."  
  
"Uh...yeah," she mumbled, willing each finger to unlock one by one and forcing her arms apart, feet shaky and stomach upside down from the unexpected trip. "You could've warned me, you know. I almost barfed in your hair."  
  
"Don't tell me I smell that bad," he drawled, watching sardonically as Kagome settled down, head between her knees. The ground was still damp from the storm, but she really didn't care.  
  
"Don't give me the 'I suck' spiel again," she muttered at the ground. "I just get motion sick sometimes."  
  
"Well, see if that helps any." She squinted up at him to follow where he was pointing, and her eyes widened.  
  
If the sunset had been picturesque on the balcony, the view from the little pavilion they stood (or sat) upon now was breathtaking. Not only the forest, but the castle's green roof and outer grounds were all patterned with golden red from the sun's last rays, raindrops and puddles transformed into tiny sparkles to complete the effect. It was better than any movie or postcards or anything she'd ever seen.  
  
Inuyasha smirked at her expression. "See? Can't see it like this anywhere else unless you got wings or somethin'."  
  
"Wow," she breathed, forgetting about her upset stomach and the lingering heat in her cheeks from inadvertently hanging on Inuyasha. "You were right. This is incredible."  
  
They remained silent till the sun was almost gone and the shadows had crept over the entire castle. Kagome could barely see her hand in front of her face. "Shoot, I forgot to bring any lights."  
  
"And that's why you're not in charge," Inuyasha's voice muttered to her right. "Hold still, wench. You're pretty close to the edge."  
  
Kagome obediently remained seated, listening to scraping, clattering of wood and a snap of fingers, and light suddenly flared to her right. "Done," Inuyasha said from between two torches, set in small braziers. "Let's hurry this up, wench. I'm starving."  
  
Shaky as her hands still were, Kagome insisted upon bringing out the small jugs of tea – she had 'accidentally' forgotten his sake – and then a huge, steaming carton of...something...from each box. "I had some of this in my bag, from when I took my brother camping in the woods," Kagome said, handing him one carton and some chopsticks. "It's called ramen. It's mainly noodles and flavoring, nothing you've never seen before, probably." She opened her packet of beef powder and sprinkled it into her carton, stirring the mess around gently and blowing on it before grabbing a few strands and gulping them down.  
  
Inuyasha watched the process narrowly, then aped her and regarded the noodles with undisguised amazement. "I'll be damned...this is great!" He began shoveling them into his mouth as fast as he could.  
  
"Lovely." She ate at her own pace, sipping her tea from time to time and enjoying the air as it cooled slightly. Soon the moon came out, and its near-full light was sufficient for even Kagome to see without the torches.  
  
"Wow," she said again, looking out at the grounds and forest in the eerie new light. "I had no idea everything looked so nice out here at night. You must hate being cooped up with me inside every night—besides the fact that you're stuck with me, of course."  
  
Inuyasha snorted, but took no further advantage. "You think I never sneak out afterwards? I used to do it all the time and run around after dark when I was a kid. Drove the servants crazy, and it pissed the guards off like you wouldn't believe, but Dad didn't care, so no one could do anything about it. I think Fluffy did the same thing sometimes, 'specially after I was born."  
  
"What happened to his mother, if you two were just half-siblings?"  
  
"Questions again?" He raised an eyebrow at her, but the ramen seemed to have put him in an affable mood. "She was a dog demon like Dad. Think she got killed in battle a couple hundred years before I was born."  
  
"So..." Kagome trailed off and set her carton down with about a third left. Inuyasha paused long enough to eye it, and she pushed it forward. He emptied his carton, dropped it into one box and grabbed hers. She waited for him to nearly finish before speaking again. "What was your dad like?"  
  
Red eyes immediately pinned her with a glare. "Why the fuck would you care?"  
  
"Because you know about my family...probably too much...and I'm curious about yours." She gazed back at him steadily. "If I ever agreed to marry you, it'd be a case of sudden insanity, not because I was impressed by your family connections. Got that? I just want to hear about it."  
  
"Then ask Sango or the bouzu."  
  
"I want to hear it from you," she said simply.  
  
Inuyasha snorted, mumbled something under his breath she didn't catch, and slurped the rest of the noodles down. Then he folded his arms into his wide sleeves, turning to stare at the forest. Kagome sighed internally. _No dice, huh? Well, at least he's still here. Getting stranded out here would be just great.  
_  
Well...for the moment, actually, it wouldn't be so bad. Everything was so calm and clear and peaceful; the forest's blackness seemed more of a sleepy, tranquil darkness than the kind that hides monsters, and there were no city lights, no sisters snoring...no cats, no little brothers, no dads...  
  
To her horror, a wave of homesickness suddenly hit Kagome, and her eyes stung. _Where did this come from?! Stop that! Bad me! Bad! _But the half- serious mental scolding didn't help, and she swallowed hard a couple of times. When that didn't help, either, she swiped at her eyes discreetly, grateful that she was upwind of Inuyasha.  
  
"Dad was Lord of the Western Lands."  
  
Kagome stopped mid-swipe and glanced at him. "Hmmm?"  
  
"Like I said, he was a dog demon. Biggest and most powerful around, but really old. He used to rule the Western Lands." Inuyasha stole a glance at her. "There. Happy?"  
  
_Nuts. He noticed._ Kagome looked away. "Yeah, thanks."  
  
"No, you're not. What's wrong now?"  
  
_Damn_! "I just got homesick for a second. Don't ask me why, 'cause I don't know."  
  
"If you say so."  
  
Long pause, not as peaceful as before.  
  
"Inuyasha?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"...Why do you hate me asking questions so much?"  
  
"Why ask why? It's annoying. I don't have to tell you every detail of my life. Besides, like I said, you might screw things up by figuring everything out."  
  
"Oh. Okay. That makes sense."  
  
By now, she had figured out what had brought the homesickness on, and it wasn't homesickness for the shrine, or anyone in it. "Smells are so stupid."  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"I read somewhere that smell is the sense that brings up the strongest memories, or makes 'em stick the most. Something like that. That rainy, earthy smell is kinda like...bad memories. It just took me back somewhere I didn't want to remember for a minute." Kagome stretched out on her back and looked up at the stars, wondering at how many of them there were. The shrine had too many trees and the city too much light for her to have noticed before.  
  
"Yeah, it happens. After Dad croaked, Mom forbade anyone from ever going in his room. That way she could go in for years afterwards, sleep in there and feel like..." He trailed off. "I dunno."  
  
"Same here. Except..." Kagome also couldn't finish.  
  
She heard something strange from her right and propped her head up on one elbow. "Did the great and grumpy Inuyasha-sama just laugh?"  
  
"Shaddup, wench. I was just thinking of the time Mom's husband came back for her."  
  
"No way!" Kagome sat up. "Your mom was married before—"  
  
"Before, during and after. Some dickweed called Takemaru got her when she was sixteen, and Dad had known her since she was a kid. He always liked humans, 'specially as he got older, and she said he used to play with her, watch out for her, all that happy crap. So when this dipshit pushed her father into arranging marriage..."  
  
"Your dad wasn't too happy?"  
  
"Hell no. Probably would've killed him if Mom wasn't so attached to him. What is it with you women and your fathers, anyway?"  
  
"Feminine weakness?"  
  
He chose not to respond to that, and Kagome mentally awarded him five points. "Anyway, it was too late by then, and her father was pretty powerful, but not so powerful that he could keep Dad from getting what he wanted. Didn't help that Mom wanted it, too, so pretty soon after she moved into the dumbass's castle, she got me. Except right before she was due, Dad took her and holed up in here."  
  
"Oooooh..." Kagome could just see it. "What'd the husband do?"  
  
"Well, after he got through figuring everything out and sent a letter off to her dad telling him his daughter had become a demon's whore, they got the bright idea that the only way to fix things was to take her back by force."  
  
"Oh, boy. Bet that was fun."  
  
"For everyone here, maybe, except Mom and the maids she brought with her. There were a lot of demon servants back then, and even they were stronger than the human soldiers who came up and demanded Mom back. S'not like there wasn't a demon army here, too..."  
  
"Slaughter?"  
  
"Yeah. But the little shit who started it in the first place got away."  
  
"Awwww, man..."  
  
"I agree. But I saw him again when I was five."  
  
"Oh, really?"  
  
Inuyasha was enjoying the conversation so much that he didn't realize he was talking about something he'd never related to anyone before. "Yep. He snuck around the back somehow...used some talismans or something to hide his scent. He had this big idea that if he just found Mom alone, he could kill her and everything would be okay."  
  
"Pfffft."  
  
"See, even you get it. He didn't. He came up and saw me with Mom, and started calling her..." His voice hardened. "All sorts of shit. _To her face_. He wasn't that nice to me, either, but....Well, I was old enough to have ripped his throat out already, but Mom didn't let me. I thought she was being too nice...that scrawny, pit-faced, lame-ass excuse for a human just kept going and going, but _then_ I smelled Dad coming."  
  
Kagome risked a glance over at Inuyasha. He was wearing a savage grin. "I won't give you nightmares or anything, but after he called in the servants to clean it up, no one called my mother a whore again, even behind her back, till a few years after he died."  
  
"I bet." Kagome smiled. "Can you imagine my dad ripping anyone to pieces to defend my honor? I love him, but..."  
  
"But he couldn't tear up a piece of paper." Inuyasha snorted. "Another reason you should be glad you're here. If anyone bugs you, I'll just kick his ass."  
  
"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "And if someone is already bugging me?"  
  
Inuyasha growled low in his throat. "The wimpy wolf won't do anything. He's all talk."  
  
"I dunno about that. He seemed pretty serious."  
  
"Well, if he really pisses you off, I'll get the bouzu to suck him up or something."  
  
"Why, thank you. Should I call you Dad?"  
  
"Gods, no! Don't put me on the same level as him!"  
  
Kagome sighed. She was getting used to it, but it still stung a bit. "I know he's not very bright. He's still a good person, a lot better than most people who're smarter than he is."  
  
"Maybe. Maybe not."  
  
Kagome yawned. "I wish I had a cool story like that. My parents just met in college."  
  
"College? The hell is that?"  
  
"School, education." Kagome smiled. "They got married right after graduation, and Mom stayed at home when she started having us. You'd have approved. She never got a job, especially once Dad started making lots of money."  
  
"Good. S'good for a kid to have a good mom around."  
  
"Yeah...yeah, it is." Kagome pinched herself as hard as she could to keep tears at bay. "And yet you think I should treat Shippou like a toy."  
  
"I didn't say that, dammit. I just think you don't need to spoil him so much. He's always been a pain in the ass as it is, and now..."  
  
"I was raised with lots of love, and if I ever have kids of my own, that's what I'm giving them, and Shippou is no different, so pffft on you."  
  
Inuyasha yawned. "Shut up."  
  
"Good comeback." Kagome also yawned. "Stop it. Those are contagious."  
  
Inuyasha glared at her lazily, yawning again. "I will if you do."  
  
Kagome pushed herself up. "Sure, then." She frowned. "Random thought...where was Miroku today after you yelled at him?"  
  
Inuyasha shrugged. "Dunno. Ask the maids."  
  
"Right." She watched the moonlight pick out little threads of silvery white on his hair. "Hey, mind if I find something out real quick?"  
  
"What's that?" He scowled at her suspiciously.  
  
"Just hold still for a second." His ears twitched as she got up, crossed the little space between them and knelt next to him. "Permission to touch your hair?"  
  
"My hair?!"  
  
"Yep." Kagome lightly picked up a lock on his back. "This won't hurt a bit..." She held it up with one hand, threaded her fingers through it, and let it go gently. "Okay, that was all. Thanks."  
  
"What the...do you enjoy violating my personal space?" He shuffled away a few steps, glaring at her all the way.  
  
"Most of the time." Kagome covered another yawn with the back of her hand. "Only when it doesn't involve me getting launched into the air and getting motion sickness. Otherwise, yep, it's pretty fun."  
  
"Feh. Glad you're enjoying yourself." Inuyasha stood and scratched the back of his neck irritably. "Come on, time to go back inside."  
  
"Same way we came?"  
  
"Of course. But only if you don't get sick all over me."  
  
"Oh, you're no fun. Don't worry, I'm ready for it this time, so I should be fine."  
  
"Good. I hate the smell of vomit." Inuyasha crouched.  
  
"Downright poetic, aren't you?" Kagome climbed on after only a moment of hesitation. "What about the boxes?"  
  
"Eh. I'll get 'em later." Both his arms came back to support her, and he leapt into the air.  
  
This time Kagome was able to enjoy the brief flight, pulling herself up and leaning over as they rose over the castle and all the grounds, then looking up and back at the moon before the sudden drop made her yelp and grab for his shoulders.  
  
"Choking me again, wench." He crouched and waited for her to slide off before standing up.  
  
"Sorry. But that was fun. Could we do it again sometime?" Kagome smoothed her hair back, enjoying the wind before they headed back inside.  
  
"Maybe. Probably not. Now come on."  
  
The walk back down was uneventful, and Kagome didn't even realize he was still with her till they were outside her door. "Wait...why—"  
  
"Question, wench."  
  
"Oh, yeah. Shoot."  
  
"Will you marry me?"  
  
"Nope, I won't marry you. My dad won't have to come after us with a pitchfork or anything."  
  
"That'd be the day. Night, wench."  
  
"Night, you." She watched him walk back up the stairs and pondered how to go about getting him to let her brush his hair: like a dog's fur, the outermost layer was tough and coarse, but underneath, everything else felt more like silk. Sango was already asleep in their room, though, and Shippou didn't need to hear about it, so she fell asleep listening to the little fox ramble and to the CD that Sango had left on when _she _fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: Eeeep, sorry! Sorry! Late, I know. But life gets in the way, especially when your little sis just got her graduation money and you have to play chauffeur and help her go spend it, then get distracted constantly aaaall daaaay...

This was an easygoing chapter for more than one reason: next time, we get Into It. (Dun dun DUN.)  
  
And as a general note, if you're having trouble uploading stories, just register/log in and look at the numbered steps on your screen. It should tell you what to do. Yeah. Going to sleep now...see y'all in a few (days at the very very most).


	10. Danger

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is not mine. He belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, and his little friends, too.  
  
A/N: Lots to cover and sore hands already for some bizarre reason, so let's see how this one turns out...I'd wait till tomorrow, but breaking 50 reviews makes me happy, and when I'm happy, I wanna update. Everyone wins.

* * *

**Beast**  
  
**Chapter 10**  
  
Miroku was waiting for them when they got back from their morning bath, which had turned into another water fight thanks to the kit: he had spent most of the day yesterday either looking for the monk or talking with Kohaku, and as much as he enjoyed the card games, they provided little outlet for a hyperactive child's excess energy.  
  
"You look as if you enjoyed yourselves," the monk greeted them before they could ask where he was yesterday. "Please sit down and bring out the magic screen, Kagome-sama."  
  
"Are you sure? We don't have long," Kagome pointed out, thankful that they'd already dressed in the other room as she plopped down and pulled the laptop onto the floor. _Note to self...grill him about yesterday later._ She caught Sango's eye and made a 'wait' gesture, and her friend sighed and nodded reluctantly.  
  
"Yes, I know. I've been rehearsing what I wish to tell you," Miroku was saying, oblivious of the exchange and his ironic timing. He watched her turn the machine on and tap the waning battery light nervously. "Sango-sama tells me it's possible to use the device without the words appearing, but this is for everyone's benefit."  
  
"Oh, yeah. Is it the name thing?" Kagome opened their file off the desktop and moved over to make room for him to begin. Shippou hopped onto her lap, watching the little hiragana characters avidly as Miroku typed.  
  
_"Yes. For one, speaking her name may alert Inuyasha that you know of her. He will then assume, and rightly, that you know much else. He would not be happy."_  
  
"No kidding."  
  
_"But more importantly, you may be Kikyou-sama."  
_  
"**WHAT?!"  
**  
_"Your resemblance and your"_ He stopped and hit Backspace again. Kagome would've loved to smack him as he went on after 'resemblance,' but they were running out of time._ "indicates you may be her reincarnation. Have you ever been able to do things others cannot?"  
_  
"No," Kagome protested. "And so what if I could, and I am, or whatever?"  
  
_"If you are, hearing her name could reawaken her, and that would be"_  
  
DEEEET DEEEET DEEEET started up again. "Keep going!" Kagome urged him over the noise.  
  
Miroku grimaced and kept going. _"very bad. Trust me. Demons, memories, the Shikon J"_  
  
The screen flickered. With a little dit the laptop died, leaving them all staring at a blank screen.  
  
"What do you mean, demons, memories, and the Jewel?" Kagome grabbed a piece of paper. "If you could just explain that by typing, I can translate as you go. Please?"  
  
Miroku and Sango exchanged glances. The monk had only mentioned reincarnation and the Jewel to her yesterday, and she had understood him after a bit of verbal cat-and-mouse around the curse's limits. "You may not want to know, Kagome-chan."  
  
"What the hell are you idiots doing in here?" Sango snatched the key off Miroku's lap and sat on it as Inuyasha flung the shoji open. "I heard that damn noise again. What're you up to this time, wench?"  
  
"Just playing a game, Inuyasha." Kagome picked up the laptop and held it up for his inspection. "That sound was the noise it makes before its power runs out. It won't work anymore unless we call an electrician or something and I can recharge the battery."  
  
All four of them looked at her blankly. She sighed. "It's broken. Get it?"  
  
"For good?" Shippou leaned out of her lap and tapped a few keys. "Wow, it feels weird!"  
  
"Well, that's good." Inuyasha jerked his head at Miroku. "C'mon, bouzu."  
  
"What are you two doing?" Kagome asked as the monk obediently got up.  
  
"None of your business," Inuyasha snapped, just as Sango said, "Trying to fix Tetsusaiga, I imagine."  
  
Inuyasha growled, and Miroku gave Sango a speculative look. "Quite right. I say, Inuyasha, why don't we let them assist us?"  
  
"What good would having a couple of wenches underfoot do us?"  
  
"Because one _wench_ knows more than twice you do about swords, and the other was the one who unsheathed the blade in the first place." Sango got up. "We've nothing better to do till the rain stops anyway."  
  
"Sounds like fun," Kagome agreed.  
  
"Dammit..." Not even Inuyasha could argue with that. "Fine! But stay out of the way. And the runt stays here."  
  
"Awwww..." Shippou whined, but Kagome shook her head.  
  
"You might accidentally get hurt, knowing how Inuyasha likes to fight." Kagome patted Shippou's head and ignored Inuyasha's grumbling about _accidents_. "Go play something quiet with Kohaku, would you? He still seems pretty tired."  
  
Shippou pouted, then brightened. "Can I teach him how to play Go Fish?"  
  
"Sure." Kagome picked up the deck and handed it to him. "Don't lose any, got it?"  
  
"Okay! Thanks, Kagome!" The kitsune returned her hug and raced off.  
  
"Thanks, Kagome-chan," Sango whispered as they followed the men upstairs.  
  
"No problem. It'll keep Shippou from trying to eat my lipstick again," Kagome whispered back, and Inuyasha glared back at them as they giggled like schoolgirls.  
  
"Do you two always sound so stupid?" he called over his shoulder.  
  
"Only when you're around," Kagome replied.  
  
Miroku smiled, and Inuyasha scowled but turned his eyes back to their destination, a small door at the back of the second story. "Stand out of the way when I tell you two wenches, all right?"  
  
Kagome gaped around her as she followed Sango inside. The slayer had obviously been there before, and no wonder: it was a wide, well-kept practice room, almost like a small dojo, with worn tatami mats spaced evenly across the newer floor mats for better footing, racks of weapons against the walls, and what looked remarkably like sword or _claw_ gouge marks in the sturdy wood of the high ceiling and thick walls.  
  
Inuyasha lifted Tetsusaiga off a wooden stand and unsheathed the blade. "See, it comes out easy enough. Before I squashed the flea yesterday, he said it's supposed to transform into a sword, not this rusty piece of crap. Gods forbid the old bastard should actually tell me how to do it..."  
  
"Well, have you tried fighting with it?" Sango asked.  
  
"Against who, the bouzu?" Inuyasha retorted. "The blade's supposed to protect humans, whatever the hell that means. I can't attack him with it. And I can't find the wimpy wolf to try it against _him_, so—"  
  
"You called?" Everyone looked at the open shoji. Kouga was lounging against the wall near the room's entrance. "Hey, Kagome. How's my woman today?"  
  
"I don't know, you better find her and ask her," Kagome muttered, and the wolf laughed.  
  
"She doesn't want you, wimpy wolf, so piss off." Inuyasha moved to block Kagome from his line of vision, but Kouga was up and past him in a blink.  
  
"So—" Kagome tried not to roll her eyes as Kouga grasped her hands again and Inuyasha's eye began twitching violently. ""I understand you're not much for the idea, so I'll just have to be patient. I can wait a little. What is it you want? Jewels? Flowers? Silk? I can get it for you."  
  
"From where?" Kagome leaned away. "Look, I don't want anything. I'm not marrying or mating anyone, so please leave me alone."  
  
"Sounds pretty clear, don't it?" Inuyasha rapped the undersides of Kouga's arms with the Tetsusaiga. "You can get your paws off her now."  
  
"And what if I don't want to, dog-turd?" Kouga let go and crossed his arms. "You gonna come after me with that rusty stick?"  
  
"Whatever it takes, asshole!" Inuyasha lunged at him and swiped at empty space.  
  
"You're even slower with your crappy toy than with your claws!" Kouga taunted from across the room, cracking his knuckles. "If I really wanted to take her, there wouldn't be a damn thing you could do about it!" He paused, then smiled and waved at Kagome. "Not that I would, of course, not till you said it was okay."  
  
Kagome sighed and massaged her temples. "Glad to hear it, 'cause it's _not_ okay!"  
  
"This is idiotic," Miroku complained. "Kouga-sama, please abandon your suit. Kagome-sama is not interested, and it's unseemly for you to pursue her when Inuyasha-sama is already in the midst of—"  
  
"Of what? Bugging her to marry him when she hates his guts and he's still obsessed with that dead bitch?"  
  
Inuyasha dropped Tetsusaiga. Before it hit the tatami, he was across the room and his fist smashed into Kouga's jaw, knocking the wolf demon into the wall with wood-crunching force. "If you _ever_ insult her again, I'll chew your fucking head off and shove it up your ass!" Inuyasha rasped, hands clenching and unclenching, mindless of his claws digging into his palms and drawing blood. _"You got that?!"_  
  
"She's _dead_, dog-turd." Kouga climbed out of the depression his body had made, massaging his jaw and glaring at Inuyasha, completely somber now. "Whatever happened, she's dead now. You're the one who doesn't get it."  
  
"Shut _up_!" Inuyasha lunged for him, and his claws raked a thin but deep gash down the side of Kouga's face as he dodged.  
  
A well-placed heel to the spine smashed the half-breed to the floor. "Gods, you're pathetic." Kouga ground his foot into Inuyasha's spine, speaking over incoherent growls of rage and pain. "Here you not only have a great woman just waiting for you to convince her to marry you, but she looks exactly like the wench you were slobbering over before all this shit started, with the spirit that wench always lacked—and you treat her like garbage because she's not cold and stuck-up the way you like it? As if you had your pick of any wench in the world, you piece of crap! You don't deserve to even _look_ at her!"  
  
"Kouga, _stop_ _it_!" Kagome picked up the Tetsusaiga and stalked over to him. "It's not his fault he's still in love, okay? You made your point! Now quit kicking him while he's down!"  
  
"And why not? You're the one he's insulting!" Kouga stepped disdainfully away from Inuyasha's prone form and moved in front of her. "Just let him go. He's hopeless."  
  
"Move." Kagome tried to get around him, but he laid a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Let go of me!"  
  
"No." He did let go, but only to grab her forearm and raise the Tetsusaiga for his inspection. "Geez. What a piece of..." Kouga made as if to pry it from her fingers, but a sudden jolt of energy made them both drop it. He blew on his hand to cool it, while she was surprised: there'd been a flare of something, but it hadn't hurt her. "Damn, that stings!" the wolf hissed.  
  
"Only humans and Inuyasha may touch the Tetsusaiga," Sango said, moving closer. "You've made your point, Kouga-sama. Now please leave so we c—"  
  
"Why should I leave her with him?" Kouga turned his head to glare at Inuyasha, who was not moving. "He just insults her and wastes her time. If he gave a damn about her, he'd let her go!"  
  
"Whether you like it or not, she is here _because_ _of_ Inuyasha." Miroku also came closer. "Please leave us so we can attend to—"  
  
"Make me." Kouga smirked and looped an arm around Kagome's waist.  
  
"Would you _stop_ that!" Kagome would've smacked him if she could, but he was too close. She satisfied herself with driving her elbow into his side. "Let go!"  
  
It was like poking a brick wall, padded as he was with fur, armor and muscle, but he got her point and narrowed his eyes. "I don't get it. You act like I'm hassling you or something."  
  
"There's a reason for that!" She tugged again, and Sango and Miroku drew closer.  
  
"Let..."  
  
They all turned at the scratchy mumble from the floor. Inuyasha had raised himself onto his hands and knees and reached out for Tetsusaiga, using it to lean on and push himself shakily to his feet, panting for breath but speaking clearly enough. "Let go of her, asswipe. She's not interested, so you _are_ hassling her."  
  
Kouga deliberately pulled her back against him. "Says who?"  
  
Kagome lost all patience and clasped her hands together. "Says me! Please, let me go?"  
  
"Hmmm..." Kouga scratched his head with his free hand. "What if I don't want to?"  
  
Hands still clasped, she swiveled and used both arms to slam her elbow right into his groin, and scrambled away as he wheezed and doubled over.  
  
"Okay, I get it," he croaked, glaring at her. "But if you ever do that to me again..."  
  
"What's wrong with her defending herself?" Sango took Kagome's arm and moved her behind herself and Miroku.  
  
"Butt out, wench!" Kouga turned on Sango, raising his claws menacingly. "I'm gettin' tired of you telling me what to do here!"  
  
"Do _not_ threaten her, Kouga," Miroku said calmly and deliberately. They all gaped at him: his blatant disrespect surprised even Inuyasha, who was standing with only minimal support from his deceptively sturdy katana. "I think it would be best if you were to leave so that we may discuss this when everyone is feeling up to a civilized conversation."  
  
Kouga leapt to the ready, growling. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't tear both of you apart!"  
  
"Because if you so much as touch my servants or my guest again, I'll feed you your own guts." Inuyasha took a careful step forward, and the wolf roared with laughter.  
  
"You couldn't tell that fox brat what to do right now, much less _me_!" He sobered quickly. "And you heard the monk. Do you always let them get away with that? I should've known you would let humans treat you like they were your equals, you stupid bastard."  
  
"Kouga, leave _now_. We can talk about this later," Kagome said firmly, but he completely ignored her, and that made her even madder than if he'd told her to shut up.  
  
"Tell you what, dog-turd, why don't I just kill you now and do the whole castle a favor? Saves you a lot of trouble, too, and then I can keep you from distracting Kagome and teach the humans their place." Kouga cracked his knuckles. "Sounds good."  
  
Sango had quietly and steadily withdrawn a little pouch from her kimono. "You will not kill anyone today, Kouga-sama. We will not ask you to leave again."  
  
"Oh, _really_, you hypocritical whore?"  
  
Miroku's staff flashed out and struck the wolf squarely across the face. Everyone else froze again as he scowled and tucked the staff into the crook of his arm. "I warned you, Kouga-sama," the monk snapped, holding up his beaded hand and beginning to unwrap it with the other. "Leave or—"  
  
"Or you'll open your hand and suck the whole room up? I've seen that thing, and there's no way in hell you can use it inside, moron!" Kouga snarled, recovering from the shock. "And _I _warned _you_!"  
  
Even as Miroku hesitated, prayer beads still sealing his hand, and Sango eyed him uncertainly, Kouga launched at the two, claws aimed to take their heads off, and Kagome, blind panic seizing her, pushed forward and directly into his path.  
  
Time slowed to a crawl. Kouga saw her, eyes widened and he began to pull his claws back, but she was falling forward, losing her balance and still too close, Sango and Miroku too late to catch her—  
  
A hoarse shout, and **shnk** as a huge white blade flashed across Kouga's path, clipping a few hairs from his furred armband and catching Kagome neatly, letting her stop herself with both hands flat against the dull side of the blade.  
  
Inuyasha's arms were trembling hard from the exertion, but he held steady and allowed Kagome to push off and slide to the floor. "Inuyasha, what...?"  
  
Kouga backed up as Inuyasha held out the Tetsusaiga, which was no longer a chipped and battered katana, but a huge white-sheened sword with feathery tendrils encircling the guard where blade met hilt. "Get out now or I'll chop your fingers off one by one."  
  
This time, the wolf took the threat seriously. With a last glare at Sango and Miroku, he darted out of the room.  
  
"Incredible," Sango whispered, tucking the pouch back into her kimono and coming closer to examine the blade. "I guess that was what Myouga-sama meant by protecting humans. You did defend us."  
  
"Not like any of you morons deserved it!" He slammed the sword into the mat point-first and sank to his knees, breathing hard. "What made you go after him like that? All of you! I swear!"  
  
"Yes, and frequently." Miroku bent to examine the blade. "Maybe I was wrong yesterday. Perhaps Sango-sama or myself could've drawn the blade just as easily—because, after all, we are also human."  
  
"Who knows?" Kagome knelt next to Inuyasha. "Thanks. But he shouldn't have said that about K—" She clamped her jaws shut.  
  
"Fuck off. You smell like wolf," he spat, and grabbed for the Tetsusaiga to help him up. "Don't touch me till you get that stink off."  
  
Obliging as ever, Kagome grabbed one of the locks that hung over his shoulders and yanked his head so that he was looking at her. "Don't you dare talk to me like that! I defended you, in case you didn't notice! And if you think I like him being all over me, you're even dumber than I thought!"  
  
"Shut up and go take a bath." He leaned his head away, and his hair slid out of her unresisting grasp.  
  
Kagome stared him down for a second, angry tears threatening to form, but he wouldn't look at her. "I _hate_ you!" Kagome pushed herself to her feet and stalked to the door, almost shoving Miroku aside. "Come on, Sango, time to go roll in the mud and appease Dickhead-sama!"  
  
Sango looked at Inuyasha, whose expression had hardened into determined indifference. "But—"  
  
Kagome was already gone. Sango sighed and gave Inuyasha an utterly disgusted look. "You're not an idiot. You're worse." And she set off after her friend.  
  
Miroku also sighed and crouched next to Inuyasha. "Why do you do this to yourself, Inuyasha?"  
  
"I don't do anything," he mumbled. "I don't have to, in case you haven't noticed. The wimpy wolf was right. She hates me. You heard her."  
  
_Whack_ went Miroku's staff again. "Would you stop doing that?!"  
  
"I will stop when I detect some sense rattling around in there somewhere." Miroku settled down, staff across his lap. "Kagome-sama was worried about you, annoyed with Kouga, and unnerved by what she heard. And then you had to go and treat her as though she'd done something wrong, when she was only trying to defend you."  
  
"That's her problem, not mine!" he snapped, but Miroku shook his head.  
  
"You're fooling no one but yourself, my thick-headed friend." He tapped Inuyasha lightly between the ears. "If I were you, I would think very hard – to the best of my ability, at least – about what just happened here, and what I would say to Kagome-sama later tonight."  
  
"You're one to talk," Inuyasha grumbled, pushing the staff away. "At least I can take what I get when I hit the stupid wolf in the face."  
  
Miroku shrugged and rubbed his head sheepishly. "That was a bit foolish of me, wasn't it? I believe I saw the world through your eyes for a moment...it would have been impossible for me to do anything _but_ hit the bastard."  
  
Inuyasha smirked. "See? It's not always easy to sit back and pretend you don't care when the asshole insults your woman, is it?"  
  
Miroku gave him a long, even look he couldn't quite decipher, then coughed sharply. "Speaking of _your_ woman, I believe I need to go smooth the ladies' feathers a bit. Kagome-sama will need to hear an apology from your own mouth later tonight, though."  
  
"Why me?!"  
  
All he got in reply was a withering look. _Dammit_...  
  
Upon further reflection, he had to admit that Kagome's new nickname for him wasn't too far off the mark. _She did stick up for me when the jerk-off was insulting me and..._His fists clenched just thinking about it, reminding him that he still had several puncture marks in his palms. He held them still, waiting for them to close. _Now, how to go about this without having to actually apologize...?_

__

_

* * *

_

  
Miroku was waiting for them again when they returned from their second bath of the day, this time with lunch laid out. Shippou had already started eating, and Kohaku sat on the bed, smiling and nodding when they came in, but otherwise silent and motionless.  
  
"So what happened?" Shippou asked, hopping into Kagome's lap and tugging on her sleeve. She'd had to change again, too.  
  
Kagome was still angry, but venting with Sango in the bath had helped. "Inuyasha's a completely insensitive moron, that's what."  
  
This wasn't news to anyone, so when she refused to elaborate, Sango and Miroku told the whole story to Shippou and Kohaku, ending with Inuyasha dismissing Kagome.  
  
"It sounds like he's already protective of you," Kohaku commented, accepting some of Sango's rice when she urged him to eat. "He just has a hard time expressing himself, I guess."  
  
"Of course he does. Kouga hit him right where it hurt the most, and after that and an additional beating – in front of Kagome-sama, no less – he was not at his most tactful." Miroku sipped his tea. "He may not have shown it, Kagome-sama, but I suspect a great deal of his anger at you was for putting yourself in danger."  
  
"Like it was my fault that Kouga went ballistic on you guys?" Kagome handed Shippou her chopsticks lest she accidentally cram food into his mouth without thinking. "I didn't do a damn thing, and he acted like it was all my fault!"  
  
"You've already figured this out, Kagome-chan, but part of Inuyasha's charm is that he has no idea how to handle his feelings." Sango tapped her bowl thoughtfully. "You just need to be patient with him."  
  
Kagome had no patience left, of course, but she was tired of the conversation. "I'm gonna go take a look outside. Maybe we can get in some more archery practice."  
  
Sure enough, it was drizzling, but not hard enough to deter a few hours of physical activity. Kagome was extremely irritated to find that her aim had actually gotten worse; she developed an irrational conviction that the guards Sango gave her for her arms were to blame, and finally she called it quits for the day and decided they should play tag instead for a while.  
  
Miroku elected to watch rather than muddy his robes, but once Kagome tagged him, he threw away his dignity for a few minutes, chased Sango in vain, faked defeat and then tapped her rear lightly when she turned to discuss who was It next. Her retaliation – supported enthusiastically by a brother, friend and fox cub – completely obliterated his plan to preserve his apparel, but they could all tell despite his protests that he didn't really mind.  
  
As fun as it was to run around in the mud – Kagome barely even minded ruining her old T-shirt and jeans by falling once – it soon began raining too hard to stay out. In addition, the looks they received from the servants who watched them troop inside, spattering wet dirt everywhere even after removing their shoes, were enough to dampen their spirits quite a bit.  
  
Things improved slightly when they briefly split up to change and then reconvened in the women's room. Shippou suggested they teach Miroku and Kohaku how to play BS.  
  
Once he understood the cards' meaning and the basic concept, Miroku proved a formidable adversary; his poker face, perpetually calm voice and ability to detect lies made him the perfect player, and soon Kagome and Sango formed an alliance, conferring every time he laid cards down to determine if he was lying or not.  
  
"Three fours...how many fours do you have, Sango-chan?"  
  
"I don't have any. What about you?"  
  
"Just one...hey, Shippou-chan? Do you have any?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Kohaku-kun?"  
  
"That's not fair!" Miroku protested, holding his single card against his front.  
  
"BS!" both women said instantly, and cheered as he scooped up the deck—then groaned as he flipped the top three cards to reveal 4s and handed them the cards.  
  
"You suck," Kagome muttered, dividing the deck into two piles and giving one to Sango.  
  
His luck seemed to run out after that point, though; when his turn came again, Kagome had all the 9s in the deck and was able to call "BS!" before he even opened his mouth.  
  
"Almost time for dinner, Kagome-chan," Sango pointed out as Miroku took up the cards with an air of martyrdom.  
  
"I'm not going."  
  
"Two t—what?!"  
  
"You heard me. I'm not going. Two elevens." Kagome slapped two cards onto the pile.  
  
"Yes, but...Kagome-chan?" Sango said hesitantly.  
  
"Yeah? What?" She folded her arms.  
  
"...There _are_ no elevens. BS."

* * *

Sango opened the shoji and entered as usual, heart hammering. Inuyasha was too busy rehearsing his speech to notice her entrance till she cleared her throat pointedly. "Oh! It's you. Where's the other wench?"  
  
"Kagome-chan is not coming."  
  
"Ah, that's good, I really didn't w—WHAT?!"  
  
"You heard me correctly, Inuyasha. She refuses to come up here tonight."  
  
"The hell she does!" Inuyasha jumped up and shoved her aside. "We'll just see about this...!"  
  
"She's not in there," Sango said helpfully, as Inuyasha leaned over the rail and prepared to leap down in front of the shoji leading to her room.  
  
"Whaddya mean, she's not in there? Is the stupid wench hiding from me?"  
  
"I don't know. You'll have to ask her," Sango replied, wondering if he could speak any louder.  
  
With a final growl in her direction, Inuyasha placed one hand on the rail and swung down anyway, landing right in front of Kohaku and scaring the daylights out of him. "Oi, kid, where's Kagome?"  
  
"Leave him alone, Inuyasha!" Sango yelled down from the third floor. "He doesn't know, either!"  
  
Inuyasha snarled and decided to think: he could smell her all over the place, but it was strong here, still fairly fresh, within the past few minutes. All he had to do was follow his nose, find the wench and—  
  
He stopped dead. Her scent trail was freshest as he stood right in front of one the baths. "OI! Are you in there, wench?"  
  
"Not if your name is Inuyasha," her voice called from around the corner. From the sounds of water splashing, she was actually taking a bath. "I'm not decent. Go away."  
  
Well, of all the scheming....He smirked. "You think that'll stop me, wench?"  
  
"I'm warning you, Inuyasha..."  
  
"Oh yeah? Well, thanks, but—"  
  
He rounded the corner and froze. There were at least fifteen other women in two other tubs, some of whom were very old, and none of whom looked pleased to see him.  
  
"Perv." Kagome's voice drew him out of his horrified shock. She was facing him, pressed against the inside of the tub, everything below the shoulders hidden. "I tried to warn you. Now shoo."  
  
Inuyasha was out in a trice, and he could hear offended murmuring and giggling behind him as he hopped up the rails, right back to his room. _Damn her!  
_  
After a few minutes, though, his sense of pride and authority worked up enough courage to come up with a few ideas, and he smirked. _So she thinks she can hide behind_ my _servants, does she?_

* * *

Kagome was relaxing in near-perfect contentment, hair up, head lazing back and forth as she listened to the servants chatter. It was mostly about the remaining food supplies, which had been magically preserved and were sufficient to last the castle another year if necessary, and about husbands and children. She wished she had Shippou here; bathing by herself was really no f—  
  
"Everyone except Kagome out."  
  
All heads swiveled to the entrance. Inuyasha was standing just around the corner: one red sleeve was just barely visible. "I hate to interrupt, but everyone except Kagome-sama, leave now. I need to talk with her."  
  
Kagome gulped and slid down in the water. Plans to dress up as one of the servants and sneak out flitted through her mind, then were discarded as unwise, since he could just sniff her out. The other women were getting out, drying off and dressing, sparing her glances of slight resentment but mostly sympathy for her predicament. She smiled reassurance and nodded at the ones who didn't immediately look away, cursing as the last spare kimono was put on and the last servant hurried out with a final bow to her and then Inuyasha.  
  
"So." The castle's lord nearly strutted into the baths, and she leaned her elbows on the edge of the tub, still covered and determined not to let him see anything. "Are we too good to eat dinner now?"  
  
"Of course not." Kagome gave him a smile he now recognized as DANGER. "I was just trying to get the stench off. I thought it might take a while to soak it out, your poor little nose being so delicate around _filthy_ people like me."  
  
"Oh, shut up. You did smell, y'know."  
  
"Yes, I did! And it was _not_ my fault, and you acted like I'd jumped on him and laughed at you! I didn't do anything, and you still yelled at me!" She drew her arm back and flung a sheet of water straight at him, soaking his sleeve as he blocked.  
  
"Quit that!" He growled as another wave hit him and sprinkled his ears. "I didn't mean to take it out on you! QUIT IT!"  
  
A few hot drops actually got inside his ears somehow, and that did it. As she drew back for another assault, his other arm shot out and grabbed her wrist.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Kagome plastered herself against the tub, face flaming. "Let go of me, you pervert!"  
  
"I couldn't care less about looking at you! I do care when you get water in my ears!" he snarled. "I'll let you go if you stop splashing me!"  
  
"I'll stop splashing if you apologize!" Now this sounded familiar...except of course that she was naked this time, and Inuyasha wasn't hurting her. In fact, if he loosened up just a bit, she could probably slip free.  
  
"I just did apologize, wench! Now are you gonna behave, or not?"  
  
"That was _not_ an apology! That was a crappy defense!"  
  
"It was as much of an apology as you're getting!"  
  
"Fine!" Kagome yelled, pulling in vain at his supposedly loose grip. _Why am I surrounded by guys fifty times stronger than me?!_ "Then let me go! Unless you happen to like holding onto naked girls, of course?"  
  
Inuyasha dropped her wrist like it was burning him, and she drew her knees up to her chest, pushing into the middle of the tub, beyond his reach. "So you came down, you found me, you insulted me, and now what?"  
  
He kicked himself: this wasn't as easy he'd thought. His fault for supposing he'd have no distractions here... "Now it's time to go eat. I'm starving."  
  
"Why would I eat with you after the way you treated me earlier?" Kagome crossed her arms so she could lower her legs and turn herself so that her back was facing him. "I'd thought we could at least pretend to put up with each other after last night, but then you turn around and treat me like I'm your worst enemy!"  
  
_Good idea._ All that skin was shorting out his thought processes. He turned around and crossed his arms. "Well, you're the one who said you hate me, remember?"  
  
"That was because you hurt my feelings. I said the wrong thing. I don't hate you...but I _really_ hate the way you treat me sometimes."  
  
"Why didn't you say so?"  
  
"Would you have listened even if I'd have said the right thing?"  
  
Got him again. "Look, I know it wasn't your fault. That asshole just pushed me too far, and then I thought he was gonna kill you guys for a minute there. It scared me, and I don't like being scared." There. He'd said it.  
  
Kagome turned around, unwinding when she saw that his back was turned. "Really?"  
  
"Of course it did!" She clamped her arms and legs back into position as he glared at her over his shoulder. "How else do you think I keep sane? If you idiots get killed, what am I gonna do?!"  
  
Her mouth fell open. "So...you were worried about us?"  
  
"Yes, dammit! How many times do I have to repeat myself?!"  
  
Kagome carefully drifted to the side of the tub again. "I'm sorry. I thought you were just taking everything out on me."  
  
"Well, I kinda was. But you get why, at least?"  
  
She could almost feel his patience wearing out, and she nodded rapidly. "Yeah, yeah, I do. Just...try to think about how I feel next time. You got hurt pretty bad, too."  
  
"But I can take it. If the wimpy wolf wants to claw you, you're screwed."  
  
"True. It doesn't mean I like seeing it....But hey, at least you got the Tetsusaiga to transform, right?"  
  
"Yeah..." Inuyasha looked back up at the steamy ceiling. "Guess I oughta thank you for that. So, you wanna call it even?"  
  
She was pretty sure that, all things considered, he owed her _way_ more than she owed him, but she was willing to drop it for now. "Sure. Now hand me a towel and get out so we can go eat."  
  
"Towel?" He glanced around. "They're all wet."  
  
"All of them?!" She draped an arm across her chest and rose out of the tub to her waist, unaware of Inuyasha's gaze as she scanned the room desperately. "There has to be at least one!"  
  
Inuyasha redirected his eyes just in time as she addressed him. "You got me into this. Go get Sango and tell her to get me something to wear."  
  
"I'm not your errand boy. Dry off with those." He indicated her clothes.  
  
"That's the third set I've worn today! I'm not dirtying any more!" Kagome stuck her tongue out at him. "And what would I wear if I did use those?"  
  
"Fine, wench. If you use your clothes instead of a towel, I'll find something else for you to wear." He began walking around the tubs, looking for anything dry. "I'm not gonna peek. You can get out before your brains dry out."  
  
"You are freakin' impossible." She stood up, arms covering herself, and snatched up her clothes, crouching to dry herself and watching him like a hawk.  
  
"You still talk funny." Keeping his back always turned towards her, Inuyasha gave up finding anything wearable that wasn't dirty and soaked. "Tell me when you're dry."  
  
"All right," she said behind him a few minutes later, letting her hair down and running her fingers through it to fluff it back out. "Now, what'd you find?"  
  
"Nothing." She yelped indignantly as he began walking backwards towards her. "Calm down, wench. Here."  
  
Kagome gasped as he removed his haori and held it back towards her without looking. "This ought to work till you get back to your room."  
  
Speechless, Kagome took it automatically and slipped it on. The red material was surprisingly soft; it reminded her of very fine cotton, but thicker and sturdier. The garment was still warm and smelled like him, like wood and earth and sweat, a pleasantly masculine combination. She took a few whiffs as she finished tying it like a short dress: it wasn't that long, but it covered enough for modesty's sake. "Okay."  
  
Inuyasha turned and eyed her sardonically, stuffing a sudden, ridiculous urge to tell her to keep it on for dinner. "That'll keep you from blinding anyone till you get to your room."  
  
"Yeah, too bad you'll have my stench all over it now." She stroked her shoulder unconsciously and led the way out.  
  
Thankfully, they saw no one till they reached her room. "Just a minute," she said, slipping inside.  
  
Kagome opened the shoji and stopped. "Miroku? What're you doing in here?"  
  
Miroku got to his feet. "What are you doing here, Kagome-sama? I was exp—" He coughed, but the damage was done.  
  
"Ah, you wanted to talk to Sango?" Kagome grinned. "I think she's upstairs. Inuyasha's right outside, so if you want to ask him while I change..."  
  
"What are you wearing?" Miroku squinted at her. "Isn't that—"  
  
"Too many questions are bad for you. Adios!" She shooed him out too quickly for any further inquiry and slammed it shut. _Damn, that was close.  
_  
Inuyasha looked at her sourly when she emerged in a halter top and tight jeans. "Everything else is dirty," she said apologetically. "Here."  
  
He snatched his haori back and draped it over his shoulder, the way a modern male would a sports coat. "Hurry it up, wench. The food's probably cold by now."  
  
They were silent all the way up to the room, where they discovered that the food was indeed cold. "Figures." Inuyasha began to eat anyway.  
  
"So did Miroku say anything?" Kagome asked, toying with her lukewarm, sticky rice.  
  
"Yeah. Bouzu was lookin' for Sango again." Inuyasha drank some tea and made a face. "Wish he'd just tell her he likes her and get it over with."  
  
Kagome choked, coughed and pounded her chest. "You _what_?"  
  
"Yeah. He's been like that since she got here." Inuyasha scowled at her. "Don't tell me you didn't notice. Even I did after the first couple of weeks."  
  
"You did?" Kagome grinned. "I knew it!" Just as suddenly, her grin faded. "But they don't want to acknowledge it because he's..."  
  
"Idiots." She glared at Inuyasha as he shoveled rice. "Y'd think they'd wanna take advantage of what little time they have left. But noooo, it's this stupid cat-and-mouse."  
  
"I thought Miroku didn't want to have any children?" Kagome pointed out. "He'd just be passing the curse on."  
  
"So?" Inuyasha shrugged. "I've known the bouzu a long time. He's got a lot of good ideas, but never for himself. There could still be a way to break it. If he lays down and dies, he's never gonna find out."  
  
Kagome grinned again. "That's very true. You know, Inuyasha, I never would've thought you would think of it like that."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "It's just logic. With the way he is, it makes no sense for him to not get some before he dies. Why deprive himself when _she_ needs to loosen up, too? They both win."  
  
"You _pig_!" Kagome flicked a wad of sticky rice at him.  
  
Without looking up, he flicked it right back, nailing her on the nose.  
  
An epic but very brief battle ensued, with Kagome the winner only because she had eaten so little of her own food, and because everything stuck to Inuyasha's hair like glue.  
  
"Want any help?" she offered, still wiping tears of laughter as he began picking rice out.  
  
"Why, so you can yank it again?" There was no real anger in his voice, though, and she took that as sufficient invitation to lean over and begin combing through.  
  
"I think I got some on the back somehow, too." She pushed the little table aside – nothing left was fit to eat anymore – and set to work plucking rice and pieces of sushi out.  
  
After a few minutes, Inuyasha gave up untangling his claws and let her take over, willing himself not to growl when she brushed his ears by mistake lest she stop and leave him with food in his hair.  
  
"It's not fair," she said idly, working around to the back, where a few clumps of rice had indeed gotten stuck. "Any girl would kill for this hair, and here you probably don't even brush it."  
  
"Brush it?" he repeated.  
  
"Yeah, brush it. Like this." And she gently dug her fingers in and raked through the hair from the top of his head to the bottom. "Do you ever do that?"  
  
He was quiet for a moment, and she wondered if she'd pushed it too far till he murmured, "I used to let Mom do it sometimes, but it always hurt, so not like that, no...do it again?"  
  
Kagome happily complied, starting just below his ears, working her fingertips down through the silky layer to his scalp and then running them down through several feet of hair, pausing to gently untangle the few snags she encountered. "You like?"  
  
"Mmmmm." Inuyasha didn't sound angry. Good enough. So she continued, finding a few grains of rice here and there but mostly just running her hands through it, so happy to be permitted that she began humming very softly under her breath.  
  
The sleepy tune didn't help, and his head began drifting backwards. "Uh...Inuyasha? You awake up there?"  
  
"Mmmmmm." His head came back up. "Yeah. Feels nice."  
  
"Good. Like I said, anyone would kill for this kind of hair." She gave his scalp a last rake and scooted away. "Would you mind if I did that more often?"  
  
"Keh. We'll see." Inuyasha reached back and rubbed his head vigorously to get the feel of her hands off again. At least his hair couldn't twitch...  
  
"Well, we're both about to fall asleep, so..." Kagome moved around so she was sitting in front of him again, and restrained a laugh as he yawned hugely, fangs gaping. "I think I'll tell Sango what we talked about."  
  
"She won't listen," Inuyasha said dismissively. "You c'n waste your breath if you..." Another yawn, and Kagome echoed him. "Sorry, wench."  
  
Kagome blinked at him. He wasn't looking at her, and she had a feeling the sudden mumble wasn't for making her yawn. "Accepted, don't worry about it." She yawned again. "Sorry. So, question?"  
  
"Right, right. Will y'marry me?"  
  
"Nope, I won' marry you. G'night."  
  
"G'night, Kagome." He waited till she was out of sight to pull his haori off his shoulder and put it back on, bringing the fabric to his nose and inhaling deeply. _Getting weak again. Gotta stop acting like this...starting tomorrow. Or maybe the day after...  
_

* * *

Kagome nearly danced down the steps, humming and thinking of what to tell Sango. She opened the shoji to their room and started. "Miroku, what are you doing here?"  
  
Sango massaged her hand and put down Kagome's pen, handing her a sheet of paper with romaji – Japanese words put into the English alphabet – on both front and back. "We worked on this while you were at dinner. That should impress a few important things upon you."  
  
"And meanwhile, I shall retire." Miroku covered a yawn with his gloved hand. "Good night, Kagome-sama, Sango-sama." He bowed and quietly left.  
  
"So that was why he was looking for you," Kagome murmured, more than a little disappointed.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Nothing, Sango-chan." Loss of nerve and curiosity got the best of her. _I'll bug her about Miroku later. Now, what does this thing say? _She began to read slowly, lips moving as she translated to herself:  
  
**As Kikyou-sama's reincarnation, you must take care. If our suspicions are true, the Shikon Jewel may rest in your possession without your knowledge; if her soul awakens and recognizes this place, it may relive her final moments, and using you try to harm Inuyasha. Lastly, if you do possess the Shikon and it awakens, it will attract demons as it did in the past. Whatever you do, do not relate these suspicions to Inuyasha. Please be careful, and ask no more about Kikyou-sama.**  
  
And both the monk and slayer had signed their names as a formality.  
  
Gulp. "But..." She looked up at Sango. "But what if I'm not her?"  
  
"We're as certain of some things as we are the color of snow," Sango replied around the curse. "Please think about it."  
  
All thoughts of white hair and haoris driven from her mind, Kagome went to sleep more troubled than she'd been since her first night. _I'm not some dead priestess come back...I might look like her, but it happens. Just a weird coincidence...like that stupid tree.... And I don't have some weird monster-magnet jewel, either. And no way I'd go after Inuyasha. He could take my head off with one swipe._ That thought was oddly comforting—whether because she knew he wouldn't or she knew he could defend himself, she didn't know. _Stupid hair is making me go easy on him. Next time he yells at me, I'm gonna strangle him with it...yeah, that's it..._  
  
With her old mental footing restored, Kagome nodded to herself, pulled the snoozing kitsune into her arms, and fell into an uneasy slumber.

* * *

A/N: There we go. Would've been up much sooner, but when I was about halfway through writing it, my oldest brother came home for his last 10-day visit before he gets shipped to Iraq. Will not elaborate in general, but...yeah. I should be able to update okay, since I usually write when he's asleep, but it might disrupt things a bit.  
  
Couple of notes...first, right as Kouga referred to "that dead bitch" and I was gearing up to write Inuyasha's reaction, I heard a funny noise, looked over my shoulder...and saw that the cat was puking on the carpet. Ewwwwwww...so of course I had to stop and clean it up. X'D Irony is funny, but very icky sometimes...  
  
And to everyone wondering about the gold vs. red eyes, this is all I can say without giving spoilers: he is indeed a hanyou, like he told her, and the only times she's ever seen his eyes gold and not red (like when he's a full demon, which is how he looks 24-7 here for a very specific, still- untold reason) was when she was in his room once. Go reread the scene if you want to try to figure out why. ;D I got it covered, don't worry. (Being cryptic is fun...) 


	11. Awakening

Disclaimer: I owneth none of these characters. Pity. Eth. Yeah.

A/N: How much do I like you people? My family just went to go see _Troy_, and I elected to stay home and write. (The facts that it's 103 degrees outside, I need to shower and I was in the middle of a tournament in Star Ocean as they left had nothing to do with it. ;D) And another weird fact I wanna pass along: my friend went to Anime North or some con or another recently and saw Richard Cox – that's Inuyasha's English voice actor – and said he was an absolute nutcase. People would try to ask him questions and he'd interrupt by going "Hi!" constantly. Odd, ne? I guess it was a fangirl defense mechanism. Just thought I'd share that. Time to switch gears, though...the chapter's starting...

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 11  
**  
Pain.

That was the next thing Kagome was aware of. Searing, jagged lines down her side, on her arms, down one leg, the side of her face. She tried to force her eyes open, but even as her lids fluttered weakly, colors began to awaken in foggy lines across her vision.

_Hurts...can't move..._Limbs dead and eyes still closed, Kagome waited, trembling, till the colors and shapes resolved themselves into cohesive forms. It was very dark – she seemed to be outside – but in the light from the half-full moon, she could see a demon lying in huge pieces on the red- soaked ground; the other was a person standing over her, also stained red.

_Blood...all over?_ As she focused, she saw that she was both right and wrong: the person was clothed in red, but those red clothes themselves were patterned thickly with blood. Her blood.

She tried to shut her eyes, but her lids merely squeezed tighter as the vision continued undisturbed. Her neck hurt too much to look into the person's face...she didn't _want_ to look into that face and make it real...and though the world was deafeningly silent, she could almost _feel_ that person's voice, bitter and mocking and familiar, and the deep, stabbing pain in her chest made her physical wounds seem like less than nothing.

Her eyes closed in earnest, but the respite was brief. A moment later, through her haze of grief and anger, she dully felt another presence in the vicinity, a large demon. Its youki gave out after a few moments of fighting – again, she heard nothing, but felt pressure on her ears that almost mimicked sound – and she opened her eyes again as those red-clad legs came back into the picture, which was growing less clear by the moment despite her best efforts.

The sound of his voice felt different this time, and the world pitched slightly and her wounds screamed as strong, crimson-soaked arms drew her up into an agonizing embrace. She found herself looking directly into blood- red eyes, red-spattered white hair hanging over both their faces as he crushed her to him. Her own voice hissed in her ears, over the mournful buzz of his words, and she watched in sudden, overwhelming hatred as he repeated the same words over and over...her name and—was that an apology? _An_ **_apology!_ _For_** **_THIS!_**

Her voice stopped him, and she watched in bitter satisfaction as his ears flattened and his head began to shake at her weakening but steady flow of words, angry, pained and wrathful enough to hurt her own ears. As the colors began to blur back into lines of white and red, her hissing became whispers, and as her eyes closed for the final time, the pain all over her body receded to a dull coldness. But the ache in her heart was unaffected; the last thing she ever felt was the way it squeezed one final time as he yelled her name through the darkness.

* * *

"NO!" Kagome flailed her way out of bed and nearly rolled right onto Kohaku, who was sitting nearest on the floor.

"Kagome-chan!" Sango dropped her cards, and Shippou and her brother leapt out of the way as Kagome flung herself into her friend's arms.

"Oh, God! Sango!" Kagome couldn't get anything else out; Sango shifted her around as she clung to her shoulders, too numb and horrified to cry.

"Kagome-chan, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Sango grimaced at the deathgrip around her neck, but didn't complain.

Kagome nodded jerkily, trembling as the despair and choking sorrow of her nightmare overcame her again. _What was that? Why did it feel so damned real? And why does it hurt so much? _Her body was fine now, of course, but she would much rather put up with a few huge gashes in her flesh than deal with emotions as intense as these.

Sango nodded urgently at Kohaku, who stumbled to his feet and ran out, while Shippou hopped onto Sango's shoulder and patted Kagome's head timidly. "Kagome? What's wrong?"

Face still buried in Sango's shoulder, Kagome just shook her head, vaguely sorry for upsetting the kit but unable to do anything about it.

Uncertain, Sango stroked Kagome's hair and back, hesitant to ask anything that might upset her. The younger woman's shaking and complete silence were more unnerving than any crying she could've done.

"All right, clear a space, child," an old woman's voice said firmly from the other side of the room, and Kagome felt Sango heave a sigh of relief. Kohaku entered and made himself invisible in the corner.

"She just woke from a nightmare, Kaede," Sango said desperately, holding Kagome firmly with one arm and freeing herself as gently as she could with the other. "I don't know what to make of it. She's never done this before..."

Kaede turned Kagome's face towards her, pushing sweaty black strands away from her eyes. "Dear..." she murmured, single eye going wide. The other was covered with a battered black patch. "I put little stock in rumors, especially ones that cannot be stated clearly, but..."

"It's her, yes." Sango gratefully accepted a small bottle from a pouch in the old woman's white kimono. "Kagome-chan?" She pushed her friend back enough to let her see her open the bottle. "If you drink this, you can calm down a little. How does that sound?"

Kagome stared at her dumbly, then snatched the bottle and gulped the bitter contents down.

"That was easy," Shippou muttered, watching the process from under Kagome's comforter. The castle was distinctly cooler than it had been the night before.

The old woman waited for Kagome's breathing to slow and her fingers clutching Sango's shoulder to relax before speaking. "I am Kaede, child. That potion should help keep ye calm if ye wish to tell us what disturbed your rest."

"Nightmare," Kagome mumbled. "Dreamt someone ripped me apart. It felt so real..." She shuddered, and Sango began stroking her hair again.

"Did ye see or hear anything unusual?" Kaede asked quietly, compassion and curiosity warring on her leathery features.

"N-no, I couldn't hear anything." Kagome gulped and took a few deep breaths. "Just...pain. Someone had cut me all over the place, and there was s- so m-much blood..."

"It was just a nightmare, Kagome-chan," Sango said softly, but Kagome shook her head violently.

"It was _real_, dammit! I felt everything, and I couldn't move or wake up! I even felt Inuyasha's claws when he picked m—"

Sango and Kaede gaped at her. "Inuyasha?" they protested, as one.

"Y-yeah. He was the one wh-who d-d-d—" Kagome swallowed hard, willing herself not to throw up. "Blood all over him."

She missed the long look Kaede gave Sango. "Shippou, child, fetch Inuyasha and the monk here, please."

"What's wrong?" The shoji slammed open, and Miroku poked his head in. "I was just telling Inuyasha th...Kagome-sama! What is it?"

"She had a bad nightmare," Sango explained, patting Kagome's arm as Miroku's frown deepened.

"Forgive me, Kagome-sama, but...was it a violent one?" Sango gave him a Look as Kagome burrowed her head into her shoulder in response.

"It was _very_ violent, houshi-sama, and she's upset enough without your nosing around," the slayer said coldly.

"Kaede..." The monk knelt a few feet away, and the old woman nodded.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha's voice came from the next room, and Sango shook her head urgently. Miroku obediently jumped up and rushed to intercept the lord, but Kagome had heard him and started trembling again.

"She had a nightmare, Inuyasha, and there are enough people in there as it is," Miroku said quickly, holding his staff out to block the door.

"What kind of nightmare?" Inuyasha scowled and tried to move past him. Fear scent hung over the room like a cloud; he could smell it easily even through the shoji.

"I'm about to find out, Inuyasha. Please stay here a moment, and I'll call you when she's calmed down a bit."

"What are you trying to imply, bouzu?" Inuyasha snorted, then crossed his arms into his sleeves and sat with his back to the shoji. "Yeah, yeah, I'll probably just screw things up. Call me when she's gotten her spine back."

The wording didn't do much to help Kagome, and Miroku rapped his lord smartly between the ears before heading back into her room and closing the shoji. "Kagome-sama." Miroku used his most soothing tone, and Kagome obediently looked over at him. "Do you remember what we...conveyed to you last night?"

It took a minute, but she nodded hesitantly, and Miroku waited to confirm that Inuyasha was not going to burst in and demand an explanation. When he remained quiet, the monk continued. "Have you ever had dreams like that one before—not what happened in that dream, necessarily, but ones that felt like that?"

"N-nuh uh. Except maybe the one I had before...something bad happened...and then right before my dad left to get our money and more bad stuff happened..."

Inuyasha's ears weren't the only ones that perked up. "So you mean you've been able to make predictions before?" Miroku asked quietly, careful not to upset her.

"N...well, yeah, kinda...but they weren't good predictions, and I've only had two. And they had nothing to do with me getting killed!"

Sango made soothing noises as Kagome's voice rose, and in the next room, Inuyasha was openly cringing.

"I highly doubt that your experience was a premonition, Kagome-sama," Miroku reassured her. "Did you hear or feel anything?"

"No, I couldn't hear anything, more like I kinda...f-felt it. And I felt...pain. I was hurt really bad. And not just that, but it was like something tore my heart out and stomped on it, and...God, it was awful!"

Inuyasha churned his hair about with one hand, mindless of how his claws snagged as Sango and Kaede comforted her. _No no no no no no no...  
_  
"Was there anyone else there, Kagome, besides you?"

Kagome's hands clenched almost painfully on Sango's arm. "Yeah."

Silence hung like a thick, dark curtain over the room. The slight chill in the air deepened.

Everyone jumped as the shoji slid open just an inch or two. Inuyasha didn't come in; all they saw was a clawed hand as he spoke. "Was it me, Kagome?"

Kagome deliberately turned her head away from him, resting her cheek on Sango's shoulder and forcing a scratchy whisper. "...Yeah."

Silence.

More silence.

Then...

"Sango, pack her things."

"What?" Sango scowled at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Do I have to spell it out, dammit? She's not staying here any more. Pack her damn things."

"Calm down, Inuyasha—"

"Don't tell me to calm down, bouzu! You heard me—get her out of here!"

Kagome barely heard all this. Her mind had sunk to a state of pleasant numbness, and it wasn't till Shippou landed on her shoulder and clung like static that she awoke. "She can't go! You can't just kick her out!"

"Shut up, runt," Inuyasha snarled. "I want her back at the shrine by evening, or I'll take her there myself. Got that?" He slammed the shoji closed.

"He's gone mad," Kaede surmised, gathering up her things. "I'll wait till he's a bit calmer and speak some sense into him."

"You're not really going, are you, Kagome?" Shippou tugged on her pajama top urgently. "You can't go! You haven't even been here half a month yet!"

"I..." Another familiar situation. _How does this always happen?_ "I don't know, Shippou-chan."

"Inuyasha is afraid for you," Miroku said quietly. "If I'm not mistaken, he believes your dream was an indication that he's a danger to you. But I think he's wrong—it has more to do with what we told you last night."

"About...her?"

Miroku nodded. "You may have been experiencing, not a premonition, but a reenactment of..."

"You mean, that was how she died?" He nodded again, and Kagome shook her head violently. "That can't be it! He wouldn't have done that to her! It had to have been something else!"

"But maybe your version was not complete," Sango suggested quickly. "Go talk to Inuyasha and get it straight from his mouth. That's the only way you'll be able to stay here at this rate, too. Knowing Inuyasha, he will take you back home by force rather than keep you where he thinks you're in danger."

"That moron...if he takes me home, are you guys allowed to find another girl for him to ask?"

Even Kohaku shook his head as Miroku answered. "The curse is already underway, and if you're removed from the premises for longer than a day and a half or so, the curse considers your rejection complete."

"Shit." Kagome pushed away from Sango and sat on the bed. "Out, Miroku- sama, Kohaku-kun, Shippou-chan. I need to get dressed."

"Go right ahead, Kagome-s—"

_Whack_ and he was bowing and on his way out, followed by Kohaku. "You're gonna make him let you stay, right?" the kitsune whispered fearfully, clutching her arm again.

"Of course I am, Shippou-chan." Kagome swept him into a hug. "I'm sorry I scared you. And I'm not going to leave you guys hanging this early on. If I stick around, something just might happen, right?"

Shippou wrinkled his nose. "You mean you're gonna marry Inuyasha?"

"Of course not." Kagome smiled at his naïveté. "But just because one option's out doesn't mean we can't try to think of something else. We have over two and a half months, right?"

"Right!" The little fox hugged her arm, then obediently hopped down and ran out of the room as Sango held up a kimono.

"Aren't my clothes done yet?" Kagome tried not to whine.

"They're not dry yet. The material on some of the lower garments is much thicker than what they're used to washing," Sango pointed out, letting Kagome remove her pajamas and helping her with the rust-colored wool kimono she'd selected the night before. "It's not so bad. You can keep your...pants, are they called? You can keep those underneath. I doubt Inuyasha's going to be warming the castle up very much today."

Kagome smiled: Sango was trying to make her feel better. She'd flatly refused every one of her other requests to wear something underneath the kimonos. "No, that's okay. My cycle stopped last night anyway, so there goes my excuse. I'll just wear the kimono."

Sango offered to go up with her, but Kagome declined, and finally they decided that Sango would wait at the stairs while Kagome went to talk with Inuyasha. Figuring out his location wasn't hard once one stopped to listen and heard loud thumping, grunting and cursing from the third floor.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome gulped and slid the shoji back, quelling a little spark of panic as the dream came back to her. _He's not gonna hurt you, stupid. Besides, if that whole thing really happened, then it looked like he _really_ regretted it. S'why he went anal in the first place.  
_  
Sure enough, Inuyasha was practicing with Tetsusaiga, haori off and kimono folded down. _Great. More distraction. That's exactly what I need right now!_ "Hey, Inuyasha?"

"What do you want?" Inuyasha landed on one foot, straightened up and sheathed Tetsusaiga, scowling as she watched the huge blade slide effortlessly into the slender wood-and-bone sheath. "Yeah, it does that. So, what, you want me to say goodbye or something?"

"I'm not going anywhere, moron." She crossed her arms and tapped them restlessly.

"Like hell you're not." Inuyasha pulled his kimono back onto his shoulders, and Kagome tried not to be disappointed.

"And why not? You want the curse to win this early?" She scowled. "Gimme one good reason you're so eager to get me out of here."

"Besides the obvious?"

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "And what's the obvious?"

Inuyasha smirked. "You're a pain in the ass, remember?"

"Of course." She flipped him off again. "If that was the only reason, we'd have both agreed to get me out of here a week ago. And now I have one nightmare...granted, a _really_ bad one...and you're shoving me out the door?"

"What makes you wanna stay so bad?" Inuyasha scowled at her.

"What makes you want me to leave?"

"What makes you wanna stay?"

"I am not doing this! And I'm not leaving so you can go and—" _Dammit! That was close!_ "—do whatever it is that'll happen if the curse breaks. At least give Sango-chan and everyone else a few more months of...being...here!"

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that you'd found out a little too much."

"Good thing you know better, eh?" Kagome took a few steps closer, and he backed up. "You can dance around it all you want, but the fact remains that you're trying to get me out of here 'cause of my nightmare. Why?"

Inuyasha backed up further. "I don't want to talk about it, okay? It's for your own good."

"Ah, then Miroku was right and you think..." She approached him a bit more, and he scowled and backed off. "I don't have some kind of disease! Look, Inuyasha, it was just a dream! You're not gonna do anything, so let's just—"

"Piss _off_, bitch! You have no idea what I'm talking about!" He clenched his fist, then grimaced and slowly unclenched it: he'd forgotten about his claws and cut his palms again.

"Oh?" Kagome knew it was stupid, but the words seemed to be leaving her mouth of their own volition. "No idea? Tell me, does what you're thinking of have anything to do with someone getting slashed up? If it is, I _have_ plenty idea! I just felt it a few minutes ago!"

Inuyasha carefully made fists of both hands. "If you had any idea what I was talking about, you'd keep your damn mouth shut and go home before..." He stared at one hand, turning it over to examine his claws for the thousandth time.

"Inuyasha..." She swallowed and came forward a little. "Just answer me one question. Did you do it?"

His shoulders hunched as if she'd struck him, ears folding back defensively. His fingers slowly curled back into the fist, and she could've sworn she heard his teeth grating together. "I told you it's none of your f—"

"It _is_ my fucking business if you're going to send me away because of it. Now tell me." Kagome took another step towards him. "Just tell me. Please."

Her sudden, softer tone hit him like a ton of lead, and his fist, still upright, began to shake. "Leave me alone."

"Inuyasha, please—"

"I said, _leave me alone_!" Little trickles of blood began seeping from his hand, and she flinched: the drops were slowly creeping down his arm.

"Inuyasha, stop that. You're bleeding." She came towards him and reached for his arm, but he jerked away from her, almost against the wall. "Look, whatever happened, you are not going to hurt me, so just stop it!"

"Would you just shut up already!" The blood flowed faster, and Inuyasha seemed completely unaware.

"I'll shut up if you stop that!" _God, not this again!_

"Stop what?"

"You're puncturing your own hand! Stop it!"

"What, does blood bother you that much?"

"No! But your idiotic refusal to give me a straight answer and then the fact that you don't care about hurting yourself _does_ bother me!"

"Get out."

She started at his sudden monotone, then glared at him. "Give me one good reason that does _not_ relate directly to your opinion of me."

"Because I don't want to hurt you, and it could happen, all right?"

"Pfffft. You're trying to pass off your own insecurity as a threat, make me angry and make me leave on my own." Kagome stuck her tongue out. "Your little plot failed. Now give me another good r—"

_"GET OUT!"  
_  
_"Shut UP!"_ she roared right back, stepping up to glare him in the face. "I am _not_ going _anywhere_ till I get a damned good reason _why_, and I—!"

One second she was yelling at him from a few inches away—then a quick yank around her waist and she fell against Inuyasha's front. Before she could dismiss it as an accident and push away, Kagome felt his arm tighten against the small of her back, and the other rested across her back, hand tangled slightly in her black hair. She was now caught loosely but securely against his chest, and through a haze of shock, she felt his head move down, next to her ear.

"I killed her."

Kagome's heart skipped a beat, and her mind reeled. _First he hugs me, now he tells me he really did—! _She shook her head wildly, and she felt his chest jerk in a humorless snort. "Oh yes, girl, I did. I promise you, I would never dream of lying about this."

"But you were so sad about it," she whispered helplessly into his shoulder, wincing as he went rigid and his heart sped up against her upper arm. _No way this is happening, this is just too weird—  
_  
"I didn't..." His arms tightened till Kagome was effectively trapped, and she reflexively shivered despite the warmth he was giving off. "I didn't mean to."

"Inuyasha..."

Inuyasha took a deep whiff, partly to remind himself that this was _not_ Kikyou he was holding and apologizing to, and partly to calm himself down. It worked, and he loosened his grip a little. "It was an accident. But it still happened, okay? I could do the same thing to you somehow, and I don't want that. All I'll end up doing is hurting you. You don't deserve that."

"You're rambling," she murmured, gradually getting used to the idea that Inuyasha was holding her. _Weird weird weird._ "As long as you learn from...whatever happened, you won't do it again, right?"

"You don't get it, do you?" Kagome squeaked and flushed darker as he drew her away by the shoulders, gripping her lightly but firmly. She could feel the blood on his right palm seeping into her kimono. _Least it wasn't the one in my hair, I guess..._

"I get that you're trying to protect me, Inuyasha," she said firmly, tugging at his right arm. He frowned and pointedly removed both hands, then understood as she grabbed his right hand and turned it up to inspect the palm. "But there are no demons in this era...at least none that'd attack or anything...so you don't have to do any fighting, so there's really no chance that I'd get in the way or anything. Is that more or less what happened?"

Inuyasha nodded tightly. "Something like that." He tested the air yet again as she touched one of his claws lightly, tapping it with her own nail to compare hardness. "Having fun?"

Kagome ignored him, assuming that he was embarrassed at the emotional slip and determined to satisfy her curiosity before he reclaimed his hand. "Do you always do this?" She watched in sudden amazement as the blood around the small but deep wounds very slowly, clearly dried and receded back into his skin. "Geez...! No wonder you don't mind hacking yourself up!"

Inuyasha chuckled, encouraged by her lack of fear: even when he'd tested her with the hug, she had just been surprised. _Test, my ass. You just wanted to see whether she'd kill you or not!_

_Same thing,_ he retorted, and decided that that was enough arguing with himself for now. "Happens all the time," he said aloud, watching her frown at his hand, raising it almost to her nose.

But that little voice just wouldn't shut up._ You're doing it again._

_Doing what, dammit?_

_She's not Kikyou. You don't have to justify anything to her._

_Shut up! I can smell her plain as day. I know she—_

_Reeeally? Then why let her play with you like a dog, why try to send her off, why hold her the way Kikyou would let y—_

Inuyasha growled under his breath and almost yanked his hand back, startling Kagome badly. "It's your neck, not mine, wench, if you wanna stay."

"Really?" Dismayed by the sudden change but not surprised, Kagome smiled and bowed slightly. "Thanks. It'll mean a lot to Sango-chan and everyone else."

"Yeah, whatever. Now get out." He reached for the Tetsusaiga and winced as his slight injury reminded him that he'd better not be gripping anything for a while.

"You sure you don't want anything for—"

"I said I'm fine, bitch! Now leave me alone!" Inuyasha snapped.

Kagome scowled. "Well, then, shove it! I don't know why I even bother!"

"Neither do I." He spared a glance at her and noticed the bloodstain on her shoulder for the first time. "The hell...?" A glance at his palm confirmed facts. "Better get that washed. You need a bath anyway."

"Oh, but now I smell like _you_, and it's so pretty," she teased, grinning as he glowered at her. "I was going to go down there after I woke up anyway. If you want to come, you're more than welcome, though you'd probably prefer to wait for the servants, wouldn't you?"

"Go to hell!"

Kagome laughed and bowed again. "I'd rather not, thanks! But glad to know you're back!" And she turned and left, humming merrily to herself as she slammed the shoji closed behind her.

_"Glad to know you're back," eh?_ That sounded about right. Inuyasha sat down to stare at his palm, contemplating his own actions and strangely calm. _Nothing's changed. Good to know._

_

* * *

_

Sango was immensely relieved to hear that Inuyasha had rescinded his order to make her leave; it wasn't until they were in the baths, though, that she heard the details of the conversation. 

"He _hugged_ you, and you _let_ him?"

"Shhhhh!" Kagome splashed her friend urgently as her voice echoed. "It wasn't like he was coming on to me! We were talking about...stuff, and he just got emotional for once."

"Well, I still think that's remarkable," Sango said more quietly, splashing Kagome back lightly. "And did he act as if nothing happened right after?"

"Of course."

Sango raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that disappointment I hear?"

Splash. "It was _weird_, thank you very much! Getting away was about as disappointing as you smacking Miroku after he gropes you!"

"That's entirely different!" Sango protested, flipping more water at her. "I have no interest in getting any closer to that pervert than strictly necessary!"

"Oh? Necessary for what, exactly?" Kagome shrieked as Sango's counterattack soaked her hair. "So the truth comes out! She doesn't deny it!"

"Why you—!"

* * *

"You seem to have forgotten something, Inuyasha." 

Inuyasha paused just outside the practice room as Miroku tossed his haori back to him. "Oh, yeah, thanks."

Miroku nearly dropped his staff. "Th..." He darted around Inuyasha and peered dramatically into his face. "First you concede victory to Kagome-sama, then forget your most prized garment and _then_ thank me openly? What, may I ask, did our esteemed Lady do to spur such dramatic improvement?"

"Eat shit, bouzu. I'm just distracted." He slung the material over his shoulder and stalked off towards his favorite balcony.

"Ah, transience..." Miroku sighed and followed. "Perhaps the next time you see her, Kagome-sama will tolerate more than just a h—"

Inuyasha was back down the hall and lifting him by the front of the robes before he could finish the last word. "Where did you hear that?"

"Merely the fabrications of overly bored servants," Miroku said calmly, craning around the hanyou's fist to smirk at Inuyasha for once. "Your reaction does lend rumor a certain credence, though."

"Shut up and go away." Inuyasha dropped him and stalked back outside.

Miroku rubbed his hands together, plotting all the way down the hallway. _Must remember to thank Sango for speaking loudly...and tell servants to keep hanging around there!_

_

* * *

_

Kagome was overjoyed to find that most of her clothes were clean by the time they returned to their room, and the servants seemed more sympathetic than irritated over the blood on her wool kimono. "It's not terribly uncommon in a castle with demons about, Kagome-sama," one older lady said respectfully in reply to her apology. "Please don't worry yourself about it." 

"Thank you all very much," Kagome said warmly, and the three women bowed in unison, leaving with a few sets of pajamas and the kimono.

With all the drama of that morning, Kagome was perfectly willing to spend the rest of the day and then the afternoon lounging around her room, playing cards and teaching her friends a few new games.

Of course, once she ignored the last of her misgivings and taught them games based on speed, all she had to do was gather Shippou on her lap, sit back and watch the sparks fly.

"That wasn't a double! That was a 6, not a 9!"

Kohaku shook his head stubbornly and held the top two cards up for the monk's inspection. "No, two nines, houshi-sama."

Miroku grumbled as the boy scooped the cards up and began the round again. Soon Sango set down a queen, Miroku set down another, and Shippou just shook his head at the rapid _dududun _of three hands slapping the floor. "This one's mine!" Sango protested as Miroku's left hand began to inch under hers.

"She's on bottom, so she gets them this time," Kagome agreed, and the slayer triumphantly added the cards to her hand, missing the monk's slight smirk.

"Are you sure you don't want to join in, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked, moving aside invitingly. "You say another person may enter the game at any time by procuring their own cards, isn't that right?"

"And get my hand mushed? I think not," Kagome replied. "It's painful just watching you guys."

"You're getting your butt kicked," Shippou observed as the monk just barely lost yet another hand. "Why even bother?"

Miroku put on a contemplative expression. "Well, let us say that it's useful practice with little damage." He wriggled his eyebrows and looked at his left hand, which was still resting atop Sango's.

"I figured as much," Kagome remarked, noting that the slayer was too caught up in the game to wonder why Miroku didn't take his hand off immediately. "Wouldn't your right be faster?"

"I would prefer not to risk disturbing the seal," he answered gently, and Sango surprised them all by snorting.

"You're about to lose, houshi-sama." She collected her cards and added them deftly to her huge deck. "Just do it and give me and Kohaku a challenge."

Miroku shook his head. "It's only a game, not worth the risk."

"There's no risk. We won't disturb the beads." Sango slapped the tatami invitingly. "Come on."

Kohaku coughed and laid his cards down. "I think I'll go practice outside and see if it's warmed up."

Sango sighed tolerantly. "All right, little brother. Your sickle is in the last shed near the old gardens. You left it out last night."

Miroku nodded to Kohaku as the boy left. "Don't be angry with him, Sango-sama. I rather agree with him."

"Look, here..." Sango pushed her brother's cards at the monk. "Just try it. It'll be fine."

"Sango-sama..." He smiled at her. "All right, as you insist."

Now the game began in earnest. Kagome and Shippou watched, open-mouthed, as the pace sped up and the two players slapped the cards too fast to follow, the winner instantly acknowledged by the other and the game continued each time till both monk and slayer were frowning in concentration.

Soon Sango was nearly out of cards; as she laid down her last card atop Miroku's last, a jack, he looked up to say something, and she shrieked and smacked the huge pile. "Oh, no," the monk groaned: she'd had another jack. Kagome and Shippou clapped as Sango gathered all the cards and the game began again.

To Kagome's amazement, they went on nearly another hour before she finally suggested a break. "You know, even when people's skills are pretty much even, luck usually comes in and ends it sometime soon," she commented as her friends straightened and massaged stiff back muscles. "My friends and I usually didn't go longer than ten minutes a game."

"It should be about time for dinner now, Kagome-chan." Sango slipped her deck inside her kimono and rose, stepping around Miroku. "I'll be back soon, houshi-sama."

"I shall await your return," he replied gallantly, eyeing her rear as she passed but keeping his hands on his cards.

"He didn't grab you this time," Kagome pointed out as they walked up to Inuyasha's room.

"How's that?"

"Miroku. He didn't grope you when he had a clear shot." Kagome nudged her friend in the ribs.

"His hand was probably too sore from the game," Sango snorted, massaging her own reddened hand.

"Maybe." Kagome didn't push it, and Sango bowed her into the dining room and left as usual.

Her good mood from what she regarded as progress in her friends' relationship – if it could be called one at all – was soon gone like fog in midday heat: Inuyasha not only refused to talk at all during the meal, but he flatly ignored her attempts to make conversation.

"What's your problem?" she finally snapped, tired of talking to herself. "If you want me to shut up, just say so like you always do!"

"If my telling you to shut up ever _worked_, I'd have done it already," he snarled. "I can always try something else, though—like asking you to please shut the hell up, maybe?"

Kagome didn't know what she'd been expecting after this morning, but this hadn't been it. "Look, if you're embarrassed, don't be, okay?"

"Why the hell would I be embarrassed?"

"Because you grabbed me like a teddy bear and I didn't smack you or anything! I don't know! You tell me!"

"I wasn't thinking, okay, bitch? Just drop it!"

"Fine! You do the same!"

"I have!"

"Have not! Your defense complex is going haywire right now, and it doesn't need to be! Just tell it I'm your friend...kind of...and it's not a big deal!"

"It _is_ a big deal!" His fist slammed into the tatami, where a definite groove had started to form from all his attacks on it. "I'm acting like a moron! And y_ou're_ making me do it!"

"_I_ am doing nothing! It's your own damn emotions, and whatever you're going through is _not_ a sign that you're turning into a pansy or that history is gonna repeat itself, okay?"

"Shut up, bitch! You think you know everything when you've been here, what, ten days now? You have one dream, and all of a sudden you think you're _Kikyou_!"

Kagome's eyes went wide._ He said—_

A low, gradual feeling began creeping up her spine, paralyzing her with unreasoning fear and rage. Her vision blurred, and her hands clenched into fists. _No...what the hell is—  
_  
His anger steadily vanished as he realized his mistake. "Kagome?"

She barely heard, but the sound of her own name was like a lifeline. "Inuy..." She forced herself to scoot back, fighting the sudden, violent urge to lunge at him and...what? Some kind of force was building steadily within her, and her palms began to tingle. Dimly she realized that whatever it was, it was not good. She was rapidly losing control— "N...name...?"

"Kagome?" Inuyasha shoved the table aside. "Kagome!"

"Get away!" Kagome scooted back against the shoji, clamping her hands over her head, but the feeling of invasion only increased—then darkness.

"Kagome! What the hell is going on?"

_Kagome_? Who was that? The last time she saw him, he was saying her name, and it wasn't Kagome.

"Kagome, are you okay? Answer me!"

Poor, stupid Inuyasha. Her lips quirked into a bitter smile. "You don't get it, do you?"

He stopped dead. The voice was Kagome's, but the tone, the inflection... "K...it can't be! You're—"

"Dead, yes. But my spirit lives on, as you can see." She folded her arms and regarded him coldly. "I trust you've had plenty of time to think about it."

"As if you didn't know," he said automatically, brain working like mad to comprehend what the fuck was going on. "So Kagome is...?"

"My reincarnation, it would seem." She frowned slightly. "Very strange coincidence. She even encountered _our_ tree a few years ago and didn't even know it. I doubt I would've awakened at all if she hadn't. Perhaps this was fated?"

"I don't..." He didn't miss the dangerous glint in her eyes...the brown, so mild and good-natured most of the time, was now cold and promised instant retaliation if he didn't take very great care with what he said. "I don't understand. Is that why you and Kagome look so much alike?"

"Why the concern over the girl?" she snapped. "We're reunited, and I would have thought your first thought would have been to apologize, _not_ to express your desire for me to go away once more!"

"No! That's not it!" he protested, leaning forward urgently. She immediately raised one hand, and he recognized the faint aura and backed off hastily. "Every day since it happened, I've been killing myself for it! You should know that better than anyone else!"

"True." She lowered her hand, running the other through her hair experimentally. "How strange to have flesh once again. I think I'll stay this way a while longer."

"But Kagome—"

"I am _not_ that simple-minded child!" Her eyes blazed again. "And she is _not_ me! You would do well to remember that!"

"How could I forget? You two are complete opposites," he snapped, folding his hands into his sleeves.

"Oh?" She drew the word out in a long, very deadly fashion, and his ears flattened in alarm. "And what makes you say that? You wouldn't happen to prefer this Kagome of yours, would you?"

"Don't be stupid!" Aghast, he made to grab her arm, but a warning crackle of her aura checked him. "I'm not going to repeat myself, okay? I'm sorry! I'd kill myself if you'd let me!"

"No, that wouldn't do at all," she said softly, and squeezed her eyes shut in a sudden grimace.

"Kikyou? ...Kagome?" Damn, this was confusing! "What is it?"

"She wants to keep me quiet," she hissed, grinning slightly despite her evident inner struggle. "She's been demanding to know what I'm going to do this whole time, you know."

"Kagome?" At the name, she doubled over, clutching her head. "Kagome! Answer me!"

"Inuy-yasha...my head..." Kagome whimpered, and he honestly didn't know whether to be relieved or angry. He settled for scooting closer, very cautiously, and stiffened in surprise as she flung her arms around his neck and huddled close. "Make it go away!"

"I can't." Bile rose to the back of his throat in self-loathing. _First Kikyou, now Kagome's suffering because of me?_ Inuyasha carefully petted her hair, other hand resting lightly on her back. He'd had more physical contact today than the past 500 years combined... "Looks like the bouzu was right. You really are..." She buried her head in his chest, and he pulled her in closer, remorse turning his voice harsh. "I told you, stupid, you should have left! Then you wouldn't have to go through all this!"

"But if I left..." Kagome sniffled. "If I left, you'd go berserk and kill everyone, right? How the hell could I just run off and let that happen!"

_"Who told you that?"_ he snarled, hands curling around her shoulders with barely controlled force. "Now you're just sticking around out of pity! I _told_ you you'd fuck it up!"

"I did not!" Kagome pushed herself up and glared at him. "I wasn't gonna leave anyway! I said I'd stay before I found out, and I wouldn't ditch you anyway, so don't tell me off for figuring stuff out!"

"Figuring it out, my ass," Inuyasha grumbled, letting her settle back in. "What are the odds you'll tell me who told you?"

"About the same odds I'd ever marry you."

Ouch. "Fine, bitch, be that way." He stroked her hair again unconsciously. His instincts were warning him off again, but she seemed comfortable, and concern won out over uneasiness. "You feeling better now?"

"Kinda." Truth be told, she felt like her head was stuffed with an old sock, an uncomfortably crammed sensation at best, but Kikyou seemed to have subsided for now. "Thanks."

_"Thanks?"_ He jerked her away from him, ignoring her muffled protest. "What are you thanking me for? I got you into all this shit, remember?"

"Yeah..." Kagome scooted closer, but he drew away and shook his head.

"Your brains must've gotten scrambled somehow if you haven't run away screaming yet." He stood up. "Can you get up by yourself?"

"Define 'by myself.'" Kagome pushed herself to her feet and promptly swayed so far to the right that Inuyasha caught her around the shoulders and lowered her to the floor.

"Next time, just say no and save us both the trouble." Inuyasha folded his hands into his sleeves. "I'm gonna go call Sango."

"No!" Kagome protested, then flushed. She hadn't meant it to come out like that. "I mean...she and Miroku were playing a game the last time I saw. I don't want to break them up."

"Really?" Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow at her, interested despite himself. "What kind of game?"

"Nothing like that." She grinned. "You should come by tomorrow afternoon and watch. It's interesting, to say the least."

"Whatever." Inuyasha eyed the food. "You gonna eat anything else?"

Kagome shook her head, grimacing. "I still don't feel so hot." She frowned and bit her lip. "So...how do I know she won't pop up again and come after you? She's really kinda scary." Actually, the depths of the priestess's emotions had _terrified_ her, but that was a little more than she was willing to share at this point.

"Me saying her name triggered it, like the bouzu kinda said, right?" Kagome nodded uncertainly. "Then I'll just watch my mouth. We'll figure something out if that doesn't work."

"Wow. You're willing to watch your mouth just for me?" She faked amazement, and he scowled. "But seriously, that might not be enough now. I'll ask Miroku and Kaede tomorrow."

"You do that." He offered her a hand up, and she grasped it carefully, pulling herself to her feet and leaning heavily on his arm for a few seconds. "Still gonna fall on your face?"

"I dunno." Kagome loosened her grip on his callused palm, then wobbled dangerously. "Thaaat's a yes."

"Weakling." She yelped as he looped an arm under her knees and picked her up easily. "Oh, be quiet. I don't like getting so touchy-feely either."

Somehow, she doubted that, but hell if she was going to push him now. "Sorry. I should be better after I go to sleep."

"Right. Speaking of which, will you marry me?"

It was probably just their situation, not to mention the context he'd casually put it in, but the question didn't seem as careless as it once had, and she felt her face redden to the roots of her hair. "No, I will not!"

"Geez, wench, calm down." Inuyasha shifted her higher. "You gonna puke if I take a shortcut?"

"Maybe..."

"Let's hope that's a no." He nudged the shoji open with one foot, hopped onto the railing, and ignored her protests as he leapt down three stories, landing with the gentlest of bumps in front of her room. "You gonna make it inside all right?"

"Yeah, thanks." Kagome forced her knees to lock as he set her down. "Good night."

"Night, wench." He didn't move as she opened the shoji, gave him a last smile, and closed it...then sat down with a thump.

"Pathetic." The shoji came right back open, and he scooped her up, heading into her room and grumbling in response to her vehement objections.

Thus it was that they entered the room, came upon Sango and Miroku and froze: the monk and slayer's heads were nearly touching, and his hand was resting on hers—but there were no cards in the vicinity.

In turn, they gaped at Inuyasha, who was holding Kagome bridal style, and despite her scolding, she also had one arm around his neck.

No one moved or said anything for a ten-count. Then Miroku cleared his throat sharply and stood up. "I see we've interrupted something, Sango-sama. I must suggest to our lord that he not use this room next time, though, as you also occupy it, and his thoughtlessness surely knows no bounds. Good night."

"And what the hell were _you_ doin', bouzu?" Inuyasha smirked as the monk coughed and hurried out without an answer.

"You can put her down now," Sango said shortly, and Inuyasha blinked...then realized he still had a good grip on Kagome, who was looking up at him curiously.

"Feh." He nearly tossed her onto the bed and stalked out, face red, plotting revenge.

Kagome looked at Sango.

Sango looked at Kagome.

"I think you guys better talk about it later."

They both shrieked as Shippou's voice came from atop the boxes stacked in the corner. Unlike the TV box, this stack enabled him to hide and effectively erase his presence.

"You guys are so weird." The kit hopped down and got into Kagome's bed. "Talk about it tomorrow, okay? G'night."

The little fox seemed to be the only voice of reason available, so the two women silently prepared for bed and went to sleep without speaking, each swearing to extract every detail possible from the other as soon as they woke up...

* * *

A/N: Wow. This was the Chapter That Would Not Get Written. Between family, friends, grad parties, and Anipike magazine editing, this took me two whole days to write. Well, hope that was sufficient for a while...'cause there's no way I'm getting another chappie written before I leave on Thursday, and then it'll take me days to get to Ohio, and then I have to get settled. It'll be at least a week till you guys get another chapter...sorry! Gotta go prepare millions of little things... blehhhhh... 


	12. Consideration

Disclaimer: I have very few possessions. Inuyasha is not amongst them.

A/N: Wow. Busy. In the interval, I've acquired a boyfriend (:D :D :D unto infinity), driven 1,300 miles solo, got my life relocated, started a somewhat new job, and have picked up severe allergies and an ear infection. Blah. But you guys have been (fairly) patient, so I'll save my few shout-outs for the end of the chappie.

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 12**

"You first."

"No, you first."

"No, I have nothing to tell. So you go first."

"There's nothing for me to tell!"

"You were less than two inches apart and he was holding your hand! There's _some_ kind of story there, Sango-chan!"

"And the fact that Inuyasha carried you down has no significance?"

"Well, it does—but for one thing, it was _not_ what it looked like..."

Sango cast her eyes upwards, but Kagome ignored her and plowed on. "And for another, the reason he did was because you and Miroku were right. It's a long story, and your story is probably a lot better than mine, so let's hear it!"

"We were right?" Sango frowned, then jerked upright, accidentally splashing Kagome. "So you really are—what happened? Are you all right?"

"It depends. I'll have to talk to Miroku about it later, but..." Kagome looked down at the water and scooped up a handful, watching her reflection ripple and then run out between her fingers—just like her thoughts. She couldn't seem to keep them straight, thinking about what'd happened last night. "Inuyasha said her name, and she kinda came out. Then she kinda left. I didn't feel that great afterward, so he carried me in here. That's all."

"That's _all_?" Sango repeated sharply. "That is not all! Do you have any idea what this means?"

"Nope."

"Well, strictly speaking, neither do I—" It was Kagome's turn to roll her eyes. "—but I have some idea, and as soon as we get back to the room, we're bringing out the computer."

"Good." Kagome sat up and rested her head on the edge of the tub. "So can we start bathing at night again? I don't need to get cleaned up right away anymore each morning."

"I suppose," Sango replied, getting up and stepping out. "Hurry and finish, Kagome-chan. I'm going to go find the houshi-sama."

"Okay. Oh, and Sango-chan, could you ask Shippou to bring my little blue bag in here?"

Sango started to nod, then paused in the act of picking her towel up. "Wait. Why don't I bring it and send him to find—"

"No, no, that's okay. I want to get a chance to clean him up, since he's probably eaten already." Kagome forced herself to remain nonchalant as Sango considered it, cast her a slightly suspicious look, and then nodded.

"I've set your things out right here, Kagome-chan," Sango said a few minutes later, once she was dry and clothed, and indicated a small pile near the door. "We'll be in the room when you finish."

Kagome nodded back and waited till the slayer was out of sight to grin and rub her hands together. _Time to pry!  
_  
It was wrong, of course, but, knowing Sango, how else was Kagome going to find out what'd really happened last night?

A few minutes later, just as she was beginning to feel faint from the water's heat, the kit bounded in and perched on the edge of the tub. "Hi, Kagome."

"Morning, Shippou-chan." She picked a few pieces of rice off his mouth. "Where's my bag?"

The fox shrugged. "If you really needed anything, Sango would've gotten it for you." Shippou folded his little arms. "She told me not to tell you anything."

_Nuts._ Well, the boy wasn't stupid, after all. "Did she, now?"

"Uh huh. But you can still ask. S'only fair, 'cause they were talking about you."

"Me?" That was unexpected, and a little disappointing. "Why me? And how did that lead to them getting so close?"

"Well, about you and Inuyasha. They kinda forgot I was there, so Miroku started talking about how Inuyasha really likes you already and something about the Jewel. Then he started moving closer, then he grabbed her hand and she didn't really do anything, and it started getting mushy and weird, and then you guys came in."

"Mushy and weird, eh? I knew it." Aside from her minor victory in discovering that her suspicions were pretty much true, Kagome didn't know whether to think more about the Jewel part, or the fact that Sango and Miroku were evidently plotting to get her and Inuyasha together. _Funny, we're doing the same to them. Except _they_ actually like each other!_ She also made a mental note to ask about the Jewel ASAP. "I don't suppose you know anything about the Jewel or...the priestess?"

"Nuh-uh." The kit obediently hopped down as she stood up, stepped out and began to dry herself off. "I wasn't allowed to go wherever she was. She stayed in the shrine most of the time, and she never went near any demons if she could help it, so I never even saw her."

"That makes sense." If the Jewel's purity had to be maintained, even a little demon like him would probably be kept far away from it and its guardian at all times. "C'mon, Shippou-chan, let's go pick Sango and Miroku's brains for a while."

It wasn't quite so simple, though. As soon as she'd put on an old halter top of Akemi's (recently borrowed out of curiosity and grabbed by Kirara thanks to her scent on it) and some shorts, Kagome headed to her room, greeting servants on the way and noticing that several children were up and about, including Kohaku, and stopped dead as Shippou rolled the shoji open. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Feh." Inuyasha's eyes twitched in her direction but didn't quite meet her irate gaze. He was sitting up on her bed, legs and arms folded as usual. "It's my castle, remember, wench?"

"You know precisely what I mean." Kagome scooped Shippou up and came a few steps closer. "And what are you doing on my bed?"

"So you do sleep on this thing? Weird. I couldn't think of any other purpose, but..." Inuyasha prodded her pillow with two claws. "What a waste of space."

"Glad you don't like it. Now, what better way to prove your point than to _move_?" Kagome plopped down next to him and he promptly leapt to his feet. "Geez, don't tell me we're back to the Kag-has-cooties thing."

"Shut up, wench. This is serious." Inuyasha began to sit down, then remembered why he'd perched on the odd, pleasant-smelling 'bed' thing in the first place: now he was sitting way below her. It was not the most dignified placement in the world.

"Indeed." Inuyasha mentally nodded approval as the monk came in, Sango just behind. They sat down in a loose triangle beside the bed, and Miroku bowed to Kagome with only the slightest smile to indicate that anything had happened the last time they'd seen each other. She flushed a little and glanced at Sango for support; Miroku smiled apologetically and set his staff down across his lap.

"Inuyasha has told me of what happened last night," the monk said, all business as Shippou burrowed into Kagome's lap and began to doze. "It seems our suspicions were correct after all."

"So...what does this mean?" Sango asked before Kagome could.

"I'm not certain..." Miroku frowned. "Do you feel any different, Kagome-sama? Had any dreams or anything similar this past night?"

Kagome thought about it, stroking Shippou's head lightly as he snoozed. "Nope. I slept like a rock. I feel a little funny now, but nothing that bad. It was just last night, when..."

"When he said her name, in direct contradiction to my warning." The monk gave Inuyasha a Look, but the hanyou was staring at the tatami with an unreadable expression. "It seems you are indeed her reincarnation, then, and it thus follows that you must...possess certain things...in some capacities."

"What, the Jewel?" Kagome asked, brows furrowing.

"Well, yes, in addition to perhaps...certain capabilities. Kaede is the one to speak to about that. But, for now, I'm most worried about...that."

Kagome shook her head. "I've never had anything even close to a magic jewel. Even when we had lots of money, none of us ever had any really nice jewelry, or any demons coming after it."

"How do you know that much about it, wench?" Inuyasha snapped without looking up.

"Instinct," she snapped back, bracing herself for a fight, but he only scowled harder at the floor and remained sullenly quiet.

Kagome watched him for a second, wondering about his lack of fight, then decided with sudden compassion that he was probably pretty confused about the whole thing. She hadn't thought about it till now, but having his dead lover come back in body and now somewhat in soul couldn't be any more easy or fun for him than it had been for her. _Better cut him some slack...for now.  
_  
The last bit was more out of habit, though; both slayer and monk noted Kagome's melancholy observation and traded another round of thoughtful looks.

Miroku coughed slightly, jerking Kagome back to reality. "It was burned along with...its final resting place..."

_Kikyou's body._ Kagome shuddered despite herself.

"And as your body and soul resemble hers very strongly, you m—"

"You're not her, wench," Inuyasha suddenly cut in, raising his head to glare right at Kagome for the first time. "So don't get any weird ideas or anything, okay?"

"Of course I'm not her, you idiot!" _No more slack!_ "I'm me, not anyone else, no matter what I look like or who I have lurking in the back of my head!" _There's number 23,395 on the List of Things I Never Thought I'd Have to Say... _"In case you forgot, this isn't my fault, so don't take it out on me, okay?"

"Keh." Inuyasha craned his neck to look up at her disdainfully. "Yeah, my fault for thinking she would ever talk, dress or smell like you do."

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Kagome asked sweetly.

Inuyasha's ears swiveled back, but he shrugged and looked away. "Means you're different, stupid. What'd you think it meant?"

"That I'm inferior, of course," Kagome retorted before she could stop herself. Shippou stirred in her lap, sitting up and watching her face uneasily.

"That's enough," Miroku said sharply, but, as usual, Inuyasha ignored both danger signs of Kagome's affected calmness and the monk's attempt at interference.

"Well, if you're not the same, wench, which you're not, then some things've gotta be better and some have to be worse. Makes sense."

Not a bad attempt at conciliation, at least for Inuyasha, and Kagome dimly knew it somewhere in the back of her mind; unfortunately, Logic and Rationality had handed the keys to Anger and were presently watching from the back seat.

"Oh, _really_? Well, when you put it that way, then everything must be worse. But it doesn't matter overall, does it? I'm not her, I'm not marrying you, and you're a huge jerk, so the point is moot!"

"Exactly!" Even Shippou gaped at him as the word left his mouth, and he kicked himself heartily. "I mean—about it not mattering and stuff, that was all."

Kagome's eye twitched violently, and she stared at him for so long that he started to wonder if he should have the floor swallow him up...what else were his powers for, anyway?

Just as suddenly, she looked away and gave the monk a fixed smile. "So, Miroku, about the Jewel..."

Inuyasha nearly fell over, and Sango put one hand over her face.

Miroku cleared his throat loudly: the atmosphere had become distinctly uncomfortable. "Well, if you do somehow possess it, even without your knowledge, there is a distinct danger that it may have also awakened with...other things within you, and—"

Inuyasha suddenly stood and slammed the shoji open and shut behind him. Kagome watched him through a haze of seething hurt. _Why does he always do this? Stupid emotionally constipated jerk!  
_  
"Idiot," Sango murmured, scowling after him and then looking at her friend with some concern.

Miroku sighed. "Yes. But as I was saying, Kagome-sama..."

Kagome stared at the shoji, words fading into the background at another upsurge of unhappy thought. The worst thing about this was that she was pretty sure she did know why the hanyou was acting this way, which made dismissing him as a hopeless prick impossible. It wasn't hard to figure out that he had grown a few very thick layers of emotional defense thanks to his upbringing, and the one time he'd let them down had hurt him badly—and now here she was, bugging him to drop them again and reminding him of Kikyou and what he'd done. _Not like he's that good at expressing himself in the first place, the big dope. So he lashes out like an angsty teenager and runs off instead!  
_  
Why couldn't he have just been a complete jerk, and not a partial jerk with a history that made a Shakespeare play sound like Disney? Better yet, why couldn't he just have eaten her and spared her all this mess?

Kagome blinked and tried to refocus her mind. _Thinking. Very bad for me. Have to stop doing that.  
_  
"Do you understand, Kagome-sama?" the monk was saying as she tuned back in.

"It depends," she muttered, patting Shippou absently as he stood and hopped down. "If you were just talking about why Inuyasha's such a jerk just because of a little mental trauma, yeah, I do. Otherwise, nope."

Sango and Miroku blinked at each other, then Shippou, then back to Kagome. "Are you feeling all right, Kagome-chan?" the slayer asked.

"Just a little mopey. I'll be fine." Kagome rubbed the side of her neck. "Sorry. What were you talking about?"

A scream from outside had them all on their feet and scrambling out the shoji in heartbeats. Miroku sprinted past a few startled servants and to a side door while Sango tried to restrain Kagome. "Wait! It might be—"

"Nothing." The women nearly ran into the monk, who'd stopped dead in the small doorway and moved aside to let them see that the noise was coming from the large group of children Kagome had seen earlier, supervised by a few older women servants watching at a safe distance as they did laundry and other small chores.

"What're they doing?" Kagome stood on tiptoe around Miroku and looked at a particularly excited little girl running after two smaller boys.

"The younger children haven't been allowed outside their rooms for many days now because the spell affected them more than adults," Sango explained. "Even Kohaku felt it a bit." She smiled as the kit leapt from Kagome's shoulders and bounded down the steps to watch from a closer distance. "Kirara just finished patrolling the area, so Inuyasha gave permission this morning for them all to come out. Shippou wasn't affected, but at least now that he has other children to play with."

"That's good." It also explained why she had seen so few children around the castle before; even Kohaku had spent a great deal of time either resting or practicing outside. Kagome smiled as a few of the kids recognized the fox and shrieked, swarming him in greeting.

A ball came flying at Sango's head, and she reflexively struck it right back at its source with an easy backhand. "Good one!" Kohaku shouted, catching it and waving it merrily at his big sister. "See, I told you she could still do it," he said to several boys standing nearby.

Kagome almost burst out laughing as Sango came down and took the ball, then tossed it into the air, ducked under it and whacked it straight up with one elbow. "Does that settle it?" she asked casually, hitting it right back up again a moment later, without looking, as the boys all gaped.

"Yes, ma'am," all four chorused, wide-eyed as Sango nodded to her brother, caught the ball and handed it back.

"Marvelous as always, dearest Sango-sama," Miroku said gallantly, moving to put an arm around her shoulders as she came up the steps.

"It's good to see them out and about again." She evaded his grasp neatly, ignoring a slightly dejected sigh. "We should go back in, Kagome-chan."

"But your fan club is still watching," Kagome protested, grinning and winking at the group of still-stunned boys. "Why don't you show off a little more?"

"Now, Kagome-sama, Sango-sama has better things to do than distract young men from their duties," Miroku chided, but Sango followed his gaze after a group of chattering kitchen maids and shook her head.

"Come to think of it, Kagome-chan, this would be the perfect time to give the boy a little training," Sango said loudly, and Miroku jumped as she marched down the steps and beckoned for Kohaku to follow her to the sheds, with his friends following in an eager pack close behind.

"Boy, eh?" Kagome said aloud as the monk coughed and followed as casually as he could. _Perfect chance to go see if Inuyasha's ever going to apologize...  
_  
"There she is," she heard as soon as she came back inside.

Uh oh. More perfect timing—to have left Sango outside... "What is it, Kouga?"

"Nothin' much. Just wanted to apologize. I keep screwing up, and..." The wolf demon prince came out from behind a pillar, looking rather apologetic. "Where're the other humans?"

"Outside." She resisted the urge to back up. "Why?"

Kouga held his hands up. "Whoa, it's okay. I'm not gonna grab you again. And I wanted to tell them I'll back off a little. They still owe me an apology, too, y'know, but I'm willing to let it slide."

"That's very generous of you," Kagome said warily, sensing that he was sincere but not liking the distance – or lack thereof – he was maintaining. "Things did get out of hand."

"Yeah, that was my fault. Except for that damn monk, of course, but we can settle that later." Kouga jerked his head towards the door. "Wanna go for a walk or something? Doesn't have to be too personal if you don't want."

She had to give him credit for trying, and for apologizing—not to mention knowing how to make up for it, unlike certain people she knew. "Actually, I was just going back to my room. I have a headache. Maybe later, though, okay?"

"Head hurts, eh? Sorry to hear that. I'll have the hag send something to you later." He started to clasp her hands, then caught himself. "Right, right. Well, time to..." Kouga faltered. "Hey, is something wrong?"

"Wrong?" Kagome frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You...it's not a smell, more like you feel different." Kouga stepped in closer. "Yeah, it feels like there's something here that wasn't the last time I saw you." He sniffed at her neck, frowning as she backed away.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Kouga. Please back off."

The wolf blinked and shook his head. "Right, right, sorry. Must be my imagination." With a last thoughtful sniff in her direction, Kouga bowed and was gone out the door.

_Weird. Hope it's not what I think it is..._Kagome considered really going back to her room, then vetoed it: she didn't want to wait till dinner to confront Inuyasha. By then, he'd have had time to rebuild his indifferent attitude, and she wanted to Talk, not cat-and-mouse around the subject.

"Kagome-sama. Do ye have a moment, child?"

_Crap_. "Kaede?" Kagome turned from the stairs and bowed politely. "What is it? I'm kind of in a hurry."

"That's fine, child. Please have Sango escort ye to see me tomorrow, then." She bowed as deeply as she could and hobbled off.

_Interesting_... Shrugging, Kagome went up the stairs and towards Inuyasha's rooms, wondering if he was going to talk to her at all. It'd either be the silent treatment, or defensiveness, or some combination thereof. She did know that they had to talk, though, or this weird, leaden feeling on her mind was not going to go away, and she was going to have the attention span of a rabbit with ADD for the rest of her time here.

Inquiries of random servants revealed that Inuyasha was not on the second floor, and cursory inspection of his rooms and even the little balcony he'd shown her before revealed that he was also not there. Kagome pondered this as she came back down the hallway. _Not in the kitchens, either, I wouldn't think...maybe the woods or something, or maybe...what the...?_

She'd forgotten about it on her first trip down, but as she made her return trip towards the stairs, Kagome's feet paused right outside a plain-looking shoji. She remembered dimly that this room was the one that'd given her the come-in-but-run-away feeling before, like she had to see what was inside but knew it would be a colossal mistake to even try.

Kagome blinked and shook her head. What was this? Instead of the faint curiosity she'd felt before, now something inside the room was calling her, so persistent and plaintive that she wanted nothing more to help. But then another voice seemed to hiss at her for her stupidity, even as her hand came up...the presence in her mind from last night began to tingle, dimly, as she watched and dreaded her hand reaching to slide it open—

"Fucking moron!" A rough hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to meet familiar red eyes. "What do you think you're doing!"

"I don't know," she whispered, too confused and dazed to mind his fury. "I didn't want to..."

"The hell are you talking about?" Inuyasha grabbed her other shoulder and marched her forcibly away. As she stumbled along, Kagome felt her mind beginning to clear, presence subsiding and feelings fading back into acute confusion. _What the hell is happening to me **now?**_

"First off," Inuyasha gritted, steering her into their usual dining room and slamming the shoji so hard that the wooden frame cracked. "What were you doing up here?"

"Looking for you..."

"Well, you found me, wench, so now I can tell you that if I _ever_ catch you around that room ag—"

"I'm sorry. I won't bother it again."

Inuyasha's ears flattened. "Excuse me?" he rasped.

"I was just wondering where you were, and that room gave me a funny feeling. I won't mess with it again, I promise." Kagome lowered her head.

A sharp rapping on her forehead brought it back up. "Ow! What's your problem?"

Inuyasha smirked. "Thought that would work. Just seeing if anything in there was still working." He gave her head one last light tap with his knuckle.

"I'm not so sure it is." Kagome rubbed her arms, trying to get several rows of goosebumps to go down.

"Oh, really?" Inuyasha's eyebrows drew together, and his sardonic tone couldn't completely hide his worry. "Did...she...?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I just got a weird feeling from that room. I don't want to talk about it anymore." Kagome rubbed her eyes. "I just wanted to ask if we can still be friends."

"Say what?" Inuyasha scowled. "Where did that come from?"

"It's not that hard." Kagome shoved the strangeness of the door aside and remembered what she'd been planning to say. She looked him straight in the eye and was gratified to see him flinch slightly but return her gaze, if a bit defensively. "Whatever happened then, I'm not her, right?"

"We've been through this, wench," he said testily.

"Exactly. So why let it ruin what very little friendship we had going before?" She held out her hand. "I'm just saying I don't want it to change anything."

"Friendship? Change anything?" Inuyasha scoffed. "You've got to be the dumbest person alive! We're not friends, and if you think this doesn't change anything—"

"Well, why can't we be friends, then?" she shot back, hands going to her hips. "I'm not saying it doesn't change anything, either. I just want to pass the next two and a half months without having to walk on eggshells around you or make you feel like you're stuck with a reminder of...things. Is that so bad?"

Inuyasha snorted. "In case you haven't noticed, you're wasting your time, wench."

"Maybe. Maybe not. It's my problem if I am, right?" She waited for his cautious nod, then continued, willing him to agree and let them come to some kind of understanding so she could go curl up in her room. A dull, pounding pressure on the back of her head had been building up as they argued, and the stress wasn't helping.

"Then all you have to do is put up with me, which you have to anyway, and maybe even give me a chance once in a while. I'm not asking any more or less than I was before...she...came out."

That was true, he had to give her that much. But knowing it wasn't her fault she had Kikyou's face didn't make it any easier to look at her, and knowing that spirit was present didn't make talking to her any more comfortable. Didn't the wench get that?

...Well, that wasn't really true.

...Okay, maybe it wasn't true at all save as a small, nagging doubt. Exact resemblance or not, just as he'd said, Kagome was really nothing like Kikyou. It wasn't that he thought they were the same woman, of course, because they weren't; it was just...

...Damn. Just _what_?

"Just leave me alone," Inuyasha said aloud. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Of course you don't. This subject sucks." Kagome massaged her temples. "If you're half as confused as I am, I'm surprised you haven't put your head through a wall yet. That's exactly why I'm saying we should just let it go for a little while. There's nothing we can do about it, is there?"

"Not really," Inuyasha conceded sullenly.

"See? Then let's just use your favorite method, keep going like before and see if anything else happens. I don't think I can take much more of this right now anyway." She couldn't keep a little quaver out of her voice on that last bit, and belatedly Inuyasha realized that she was close to tears.

"Fine, wench," he snapped. "Go take a nap or something. And tell Sango that if she lets this happen again, she's not eating anything for a week."

"Don't threaten Sango for stuff she can't control, you jerk!" Kagome scowled at him and made for the door. "I'm going to sleep. Later."

"Keh."

* * *

Kagome went straight to her room and didn't wake until Sango shook her gently for the twelfth time. "Kagome-chan, it's almost time for dinner. Get up now, please." 

"Don't wanna get up," she mumbled, turning over. "Make him come down here."

Sango sighed. "He is."

"What?" Kagome jerked upright and clutched her head. "Owwwww!"

"Sat up too fast, wench?" Inuyasha came into the light of the small torch Sango had just lit and scowled. "You sure you're all right?"

"Yeah." Kagome swung her legs out and stood up shakily. "See? Fine."

"Why don't you two eat down here?" Sango suggested. "It'll save everyone time and effort."

"Sounds good." Kagome plopped back down on her bed, ignoring Inuyasha's yelp of protest.

Five alternately loud, indignant and sullen minutes later, Miroku came in and saw with some surprise that Kagome, Inuyasha and Sango were all seated on the floor and eating. "What's going on here?"

"I didn't feel up to eating upstairs," Kagome explained.

"So we made Inuyasha hold the festivities down here tonight," Sango added, pouring herself some sake.

"You're supposed to be the servant here, wench, remember?" Inuyasha held up his cup pointedly.

"Oh, shut up, Inuyasha. She's my friend." Kagome took the sake jug from Sango and poured a bit into a tiny cup for herself. "You know, I never did try any of this..."

Before they could stop her, Kagome had knocked the whole glass back and began coughing, sputtering and hacking. "S'good," she wheezed, reaching feebly for the jug again.

"Stupid." Inuyasha snatched it up and poured himself some. "You're supposed to savor it, not choke it down like medicine." He sipped lightly. "Besides, it's expensive."

"So? Are you poor?" Kagome made a pathetic attempt to grab the jug away from him.

"I think the point is that moderation is the key to enjoyment, Kagome- sama," Miroku said tactfully, sitting down between her and Sango.

"And I think I want to get drunk. I've never tried it before and I'm curious." _Not to mention it might get rid of this damn headache.  
_  
"That's not a good idea, Kagome-chan," Sango scolded, then sputtered as Inuyasha handed the bottle directly to Kagome. "What do you think you're doing?"

"She wants to try it, let her learn her lesson," Inuyasha said cheerfully, raising his own cup in a small toast as Kagome sipped cautiously but rapidly.

"My...whatever shall we do with them, Sango-sama?" Miroku sighed.

"We'll keep our hands to ourselves, for one thing..." Sango nodded as he withdrew his gloved hand from its creeping journey towards her backside. "And we'll just have to make sure we stay sober."

* * *

Two hours later, both sake jugs were empty, Miroku was stretched out in a semi-doze on his side in front of the shoji, Inuyasha was perched on the bed with his mouth hanging open, and Sango was laughing so hard she could barely sit up. "Do it again, Kagome-chaaan!" 

"This'sh the five bazillionth time!" Kagome protested, staggering up from the corner of the room. "M'kay, lascht one..."

Having repeated the story of her brother's miss with the dummy and losing the bat to the two men, and having repeated the reenactment at least thrice, Kagome stood up, pretended to swing around and lose hold of something, and distorted her face into gaping horror as Sango gasped for breath on the floor.

"You're both insane," Inuyasha observed, having consumed a third the amount and possessing twice the tolerance either woman had.

"Nothing like a little healthy insanity to captivate a man's mind," Miroku said serenely from the door, eyes glazed as his only sign of slight tipsiness.

"Damn straight!" Sango jabbed a finger at him. "I don' need sani'y to capricate you, y'big pervert! I could jus' cut off your hand 'n everything would be fine!"

"I told you, Sango-sama, that wouldn't work. The curse resides in my whole body and only emerges through my h—"

"Awww, shut up!" Sango staggered to her feet and almost collapsed onto Miroku, who sat up quickly and looked around for help. Kagome cheered weakly and Inuyasha just quirked an eyebrow at the monk. "Tell you wha', just gimme your staff and I'll rip 'er righ' out."

Miroku gulped and slid his staff behind him, out of harm's way—he hoped. "No, no, Sango-sama, that's quite all right."

"Is not! Now gimme!" The slayer threw herself on him, nearly tearing the shoji with their combined weight as she scrabbled half-playfully for the staff. "C'meeere!"

Miroku's face was going through all sorts of interesting contortions as she twisted and shoved to get around him, but he managed to work her away from the staff and got her sitting against the side wall. "Now, Sango, are you going to—"

"You jerk! Only Ki'ara c'n call me that!" Sango hiccuped and gave him a gentle thump on the shoulder that made him wheeze slightly. "But thas'okay. I still love ya."

From her vantage point leaning against the bed, Kagome squealed and whacked Inuyasha on the knee. "Schee, I knew it! Maybe they'll get married! How 'bout right now?"

"I doubt that," Inuyasha grumbled, hiding his own curiosity as Sango's volume and Miroku's discomfort increased.

"Please don't say that, Sango-sama," Miroku said quietly, trying to maneuver her away from him. "Even when you're drunk, that's not—"

"Well, if I c'n say it any time, why nah now? Eh? M'I s'posed to watch you grope other wimmin like I don' care? S'not fair!" She placed her index finger on his forehead and pushed hard. "I hate it, dammit, s'not fair!"

"Do you have any of Kaede's _special_ herbs left, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked desperately, trying to crane away from Sango's head, which was looming closer and closer to his. Her hands on his knees were keeping him from getting up, and neither of the other two seemed inclined to help him out.

"Don' try to change the subjec'! I'm tire' of it!"

"You're drunk, Sango-sama, and this isn't the proper time to discuss—"

Discussion was not what Sango had in mind, though. She pulled herself up and draped her arms around Miroku's neck, then sat down with a neat little thump across his lap. "There, thas' better, right?"

"Yes, it—no, no, no, Sango-sama, it is _not_." Inuyasha felt rather sorry for the monk as he tried to disentangle the slayer's arms, which were unnervingly strong even after all the alcohol she'd consumed. "I'd be no kind of man if I were to take advantage of you like this. Now please let me go."

"You c'n only take 'vannage if I don' wanna." Sango snuggled in closer, and Miroku gulped audibly.

"Well, yes, but..." Miroku paused, squeezing his eyes shut and moving his lips rapidly in what looked to Inuyasha like prayer. "But I have an even better idea."

"Really?" Sango giggled. "Like wha'?"

Miroku held his hand out to Inuyasha, who had already taken pity on him and emptied a small measure of pale green powder into Sango's half-finished tea. "Drink some of this."

"You firs'," Sango said suspiciously.

The monk's eye twitched. "Fine. See?" He took a large sip, freezing his features into a smile to conceal the fact that the stuff was disgustingly bitter.

"Right then..." She grabbed the cup away and took three massive gulps in a row, pausing to smack her lips thoughtfully. "Wow, tastes like shit war'ed up."

"Indeed," Miroku said quietly, praying the stuff took hold quickly, before he lost it. "It will help you sleep."

"Ah, I know somethin' that'd hel' much better'n that." Without further warning, Sango looped an arm back around his neck and brushed her lips lightly against his; she squeaked as his other arm came up and almost shoved her away.

"Stop that, Sango!" Miroku almost gasped, holding her away and attempting to stand.

"Why nah me?" Sango's tiny, broken question brought his head back down. Her eyes were nearly flooded with tears, and the humiliated pain in her voice made Miroku feel lower than dirt. "Anyone else in the castle, but I act'ally throw mysel' at you an' you turn me down! Whas' wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong!" he snapped. "That's why!"

"Shut up!" Sango shoved away so hard that they both fell over, and she scooted to the edge of the bed. "Get outta here! I'm goin' to...to..." She paused, then blinked at Kagome, who'd fallen to her knees next to her friend. "Sleep." And she slumped over, passed out.

"Good one," Inuyasha muttered, yanking the slayer's limp form onto the bed where he'd just gotten up. "If that's not a sign something's wrong, bouzu, I dunno what is."

"Shu' up, Inuyasha." Kagome moved Sango into a more comfortable position and looked up at the monk, whose face in the dim light seemed very pale.

"No, he's right." Miroku passed both hands over his face. "Whichever path I take, I'll always end up hurting her. She understands that...when she's sober, anyway."

"So take the one that makes her the happiest in the long run, dumbass."

"He's righ', y'know." Kagome gave Miroku as impressive a glare as she could considering she could barely distinguish which shape in the room was his head. "She loves you either way, so do somethin' abou' it." That sounded about right...

"I'll think about it." Miroku bowed. "Good night, Inuyasha, Kagome-sama."

"Wha' 'bout Sango?" Kagome protested, but Inuyasha rolled his eyes and waved at the monk to leave.

"Well, that was awkward as hell," Inuyasha grumbled once the monk was gone. He and Kagome were now both seated on the floor, and Sango was snoring softly on the bed above them.

"Are they married yet?" Kagome asked sleepily, leaning against his arm.

"No." Inuyasha tried to move aside, guessing that while he was not in danger of being kissed or wept upon, things could easily get weird somehow.

"Oh. That sucks." She moved with him. "My head still hurts. I wonder what would make it go away."

"Sleep, maybe?" Scoot.

"Nah, I'm tryin' to quit." She giggled and scooted after him.

_Damn_. "Well, I need to get to bed, so it's time for you to try anyway."

Kagome pushed away to squint at him blearily. "Hmmmm..."

"What?" No good could come of that speculative look.

She shook her head, which bobbed dangerously. "You're real cute, but I don' wanna go to bed with you yet. Maybe nex' year?"

"What!"

"Yep. Now hol' still—" As his mind was still trying to wrap itself around that last bit, Kagome moved his arm aside and climbed into his lap. "There we go, sleepy time!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Inuyasha protested. "Get off me!" Now he could truly appreciate Miroku's dilemma: very little of his discomfort with the situation arose from any actual physical objections to having her in his lap. But he couldn't just leave her there, either— "I know you're drunk, wench, but I'm not a futon! Get off!"

"I feel better now," she murmured, and his brain ceased to function as she reached up and started petting his ears again. "Now can I stay?"

"OFF!" He heaved her neatly onto the floor with a little thump, and she pouted, grabbing a lock of his hair instead. "Will you get your hands off me!"

"I don' wanna." Kagome began trying to braid the lock, though her motor skills had been reduced to the point where 'braiding' had become more like 'random jamming together in hopes of making them stick together in an attractive pattern.'

_Why me?_ "Look, wench, if you don't let go..." Kagome didn't even pause. He began rethinking his strategy. "If you let go, answer my question the right way and go to sleep, I'll...I'll pretend this never happened. Okay?"

"An' lemme brush your hair?"

_Damn_! Well, odds were good she wouldn't even remember this conversation... "Fine, wench. Now, will you marry me?"

"I will?" She frowned. "Why would I do that?"

Twitch. "No, wench, it's yes or no. Pick one."

"One." She smiled brightly, then just as suddenly scowled. "That's not a very good answer. You suck at this."

Twitch twitch. "No, Kagome, tell me no."

"I always say no. Man, you're slow." Inuyasha suppressed the urge to tear something apart as she suddenly lunged for him. "Got you!" One arm around his shoulders, the other went straight for his ears again. "Wheee...doesn't that tickle?"

Actually, it felt nicer than a foot rub and a good nap combined, but he was too exasperated to even consider that. "Kagome! I will ask you one more time, and if you don't answer 'No, I won't,' then you'll never get to touch me ever again, not hair or ears or anything! Okay?" Her hands stilled, and he shut his eyes before he had to see her reaction. Here goes... "Now, will you marry me?"

"Of course not, you jerk." Kagome staggered to her feet, glassily trying to focus. "And now my head hurts again. Thanks, jerk. Night." With that she turned and collapsed right next to Sango across the bed.

Inuyasha let out a looong sigh and draped a blanket over both of them before heading out. _Never thought I'd be threatening someone with not letting them touch me ever again. Weird wench._ But there was no rancor behind it, and his only other thoughts before he headed up, past the monk turning over restlessly in his futon next door and into his own room, were that she was going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow—he'd better send down some of the stuff Kaede had for him. The powder he kept on him for dulling pain had come in handy tonight, too. Some more of that would also be helpful...

Thus it was that Inuyasha fell asleep for the first time in over 500 years thinking not of a certain priestess or of how much a certain girl reminded him of her, but of herbs, sake and the way his ears wouldn't stop twitching...

* * *

A/N: Wow. Another Wouldn't Get Written. But seeing how I'm running on no sleep, still a bit sick, and busy as all get-out (need a shower x.X), it didn't turn out quite as incoherent as I was thinking. Thanks again for (mostly) patience while I got readjusted; look for, say, a chapter or two a week from now till late August. Blame my boyfriend: I spend all my usual writing time on AIM with him now. :D Now, time to go out to the car, get my new dial-up network ID and pass and log onto the 'Net to do some shout-outs and upload... oy vey... 

Now for some responses:

**Mom:** Eeeeeep, I can't believe you're reading this! (Yes, this is my actual mom, everyone!) I'm glad you like it, even though you have no clue if these guys are in character or not...and sorry again about the language... :'D

**Kagome Sengoku:** XD Here it is! You can put the puppy-dog eyes away. ; )

**minaosu:** Heeeey, sis! Thanks:D

**StarrFire:** Wow, that's a lot of reviews. :D Gravy. I hope I've addressed everything (I was actually planning to take care of the point you brought up this chapter already XD). If not, I will, no worries. Danke danke. ;)

And massive thanks to everyone who's reviewed. Sorry for not responding personally to more, but roomies are coming home soon and I need to get off the comp and go take a shower. You guys rock. I will definitely update quicker (if not quite so fast as when I first started) now that I'm settled. Peace out!


	13. Splitting

Disclaimer: Though I am wearing a shirt with his face on it, Inuyasha does not belong to me. Go figure.  
  
A/N: Birthdays are good. They make me happy. To make up for the lapse between this chapter 'n the last, I hereby swear up, down, and on pain of having Mom and Sis peck me to death (they'll do it, too) that I'll have the next chapter posted by or before Sunday night/Monday morning. I know exactly what I want in it, unlike this one, which has undergone three different A/Ns thanks to loss of inspiration (blame work and stress and all my creativity getting wasted at work, bleh...), so I'll even start it as soon as I upload this'n, wheee...

* * *

**Beast**  
  
**Chapter 13  
**  
Kagome had never been drunk before and therefore had no experience with hangovers beyond anecdotes and the occasional observation of her father or Akemi. However, when she awoke with a start and found herself staring at a weird clump of bushes, she knew something was probably wrong beyond the fact that she'd gotten wasted the night before. She pinched herself hard and yelped: nope, not dreaming.  
  
_Sango? Nope. Bed? Nope. Shoji or other kinds of walls, ceiling, and so on? Nope. Trees? Check. Conclusion?.........How the hell did I get outside?!_ She had never been prone to sleepwalking, and she was too light a sleeper to have been taken out without her knowledge, even with the alkeehol in her system—  
  
_--Are you finally awake?--_  
  
Come to think of it, the voice in her head was a pretty big danger sign, too.  
  
"Who's there?!" Kagome took a reeling step backwards and whipped her head all around, nearly losing her balance in the process. Twigs and dead leaves under her bare feet crackled painfully, and she sat down hard, squeezing her eyes shut as her head began to pound. "What the...?"  
  
_--It has little to do with the sake, as you've suspected, though diving into the bottle hardly helped.--_  
  
"Yeah, I figured."  
  
_--I suppose I should apologize for bringing you out here with no warning, but I needed to speak with you free of...interruption.--  
_  
On the tail end of the last word, Kagome got a distinct impression of a white-haired red figure. "Inuyasha?...Wait, are you—"  
  
_--Kikyou?--_ Kagome detected slight derision in the mental voice. It was extremely unnerving, like having very loud and invasive headphones stuck inside her eardrums. _--One wonders who else you would think would speak to you this way, girl.--  
_  
"You don't have to get sarcastic," Kagome mumbled, then coughed scratchily.  
  
_--There's no need to speak aloud. I knew you would do this...another reason we are outside.--_  
  
_Where are we?_ Weird as it was, Kagome had to admit that thinking was easier than trying to talk with cotton mouth.  
  
_--Not far from the Tree.--_ Again, Kagome got a mental picture, this time of Souta's favorite tree. _--I thought it appropriate for a conversation such as this.--  
_  
_And what kind of conversation is this going to be?_ Her insides suddenly went cold. _You want to take my body over or something?  
_  
Silent laughter, short and bitter. _--I was sorely tempted when I first awakened, but upon further reflection, I realized there would be little purpose. I have no wish to meddle with the curse.--_  
  
_That's good._ Kagome felt as if a boulder had been lifted off her shoulders: the possibility that Kikyou would try to take over her body again had made her almost physically ill. _But...wait. How'd you get me out here? Someone would've seen me walk out.  
_  
_--Very good, child.--  
_  
Kagome scowled in annoyance: how much older than 18 could Kikyou have been when she died?  
  
_--I am centuries older than you in wisdom. Think of it that way and try to control your emotions.--  
_  
_Fine, fine. Now how'd we get here?_  
  
_--The Shikon Jewel.--  
_  
Kagome's stomach turned to ice. _What?! But...but I don't have—_  
  
_--Within you. The Jewel was burned with me, but its power could not be negated by destroying its physical receptacle; the Tree became its focal point until you touched it and gained most of its power. It has been sleeping within you till you were ready to use it properly.--_  
  
_...O...kaaaay...how does that explain how we got out here?  
_  
An irritated pause, then a sigh. _--As I just said, destroying it didn't erase it from the world. Its physical form can reform itself given the right host. Have you heard any legends or tales of its origins?--  
_  
Kagome decided to shelve her immediate questions: here was a source of much more in-depth information. _No. I don't really know anything about it._  
  
_--Just as well....Long ago, centuries before my time, there lived a priestess named Midoriko. She had perfected a technique of purifying demons' souls that was so powerful and so feared by all demons that, in a last bid to defeat her, hundreds of lesser ones combined within a single body and became a demon of terrible power.  
  
--The great demon attacked Midoriko, and the battle raged for seven days and seven nights. Her body failed, but, as the demon began to devour her, Midoriko used the last of her spiritual strength to imprison the demon's soul within her own and expelled it out of her body. The Shikon Jewel is the crystallized form of the demon and priestess's souls. Their powers have never ceased their battle, even within the Jewel; thus evil such as Naraku's taints the Jewel by strengthening the demons, while another priestess such as myself may purify the Jewel and help to keep the evil at bay.--  
  
Gotcha._ Kagome was too intent on the voice and its story to notice the ashen light getting brighter and clearer through the trees. _And the Jewel is what's fueling the curse's power, or what got left in the tree, anyway...I'm guessing Naraku knew how to use the Jewel, then?  
  
_Kagome thought she could feel the priestess's voice's emotions, and she caught definite wariness before the next reply. _--Of course. He knew how to invest some of his power in it while it was in his possession so that he could manipulate it almost freely.--  
_  
_But if he was dead when the curse was laid down, how did he do it? Could his ghost have done it or something?  
_  
There was a very long silence. Then, _--How do you know all this? My understanding of Inuyasha's curse is that it prevents the servants from telling any outsiders information such as that.--  
_  
_I used a modern tool to get around it. It's kind of complicated, but it works.  
_  
Kagome sensed bemusement, irritation, and a whole mess of emotions she didn't have time to sift through before Kikyou got them under control. _--I've underestimated you, it seems. I don't pretend to know everything about Naraku, but if you wish for a possible motive at the least, it may have something to do with the manner of my death and the fact that Naraku was infatuated with me.--  
_  
_Really? Ewwwww!_ Kagome wrinkled her nose. _So he wanted to punish Inuyasha...blech. Are you sure he really died? Maybe he's hiding out or something._  
  
_--I strongly doubt it. I knew every demon presence in the area, and his was erased utterly when we killed him. And the Jewel was kept as pure as possible under my care; he could not have used it to sustain himself while I was alive.--_  
  
Kagome puzzled over it, ranging back through what Inuyasha had told her. Maybe one of Naraku's followers had figured out how to harness the Jewel's power, or maybe it had something to do with the demon that'd attacked and made him accidentally kill K—  
  
_**--Accidentally?--  
**_  
The headache, which had ebbed away to a vague and easily ignored occasional twinge, came back five hundred times worse, and Kagome could only whimper and clutch her temples as her vision went blank with pain. _Kikyou, stop it!  
_  
The pounding only grew stronger. _--Recall that hanyou's lies again! Tell me he had the temerity to call what he did an **ACCIDENT**!--_  
  
Waves of hatred, sorrow and rage washed over Kagome like poison, and she curled into a ball, arms wrapped around her head. It was only about ten seconds before Kikyou regained enough control to keep Kagome from becoming very sick, but it was entirely too long. _He...he said he killed you by accident. He said it was an accid—  
_  
_**--HE LIES!--**_ Bile rose sharply in Kagome's throat.  
  
_Kikyou, STOP!_ With more effort than she'd ever exerted in her life, Kagome forced the nausea back and raised her mental voice to a shout. _If he was lying, it's not my fault! Now STOP it before I puke all over the place, dammit!  
_  
The maelstrom of negative emotion seethed, roiling for a moment longer before slowly, painfully gathering itself back into a compact of tightly controlled fury, and Kagome was able to breathe again.  
  
When the voice spoke again, it was in terse, rippling amusement. _--We are fools, both of us, girl, for it seems he's been exercising his lies again, and with the same success!--_  
  
_What lies? What are you talking about?!  
  
--My death was NOT because of carelessness on his part! That traitor struck me down in cold blood!--  
  
Wh...but...but he wouldn't h—  
  
--Would he have laughed if it was an accident? Would he have taunted me about waiting for me to die before taking the Jewel to avoid soiling his hands if it was an **accident**?--_ Kagome gritted her teeth as the hatred and sorrow rose, then waned back into cold resolution. _--Oh, he was sorry soon enough. If he seemed sincere, it was because he regretted letting his greed for power overcome his control. He had only to wait a little further, and I would have handed him the Jewel freely!--  
  
What the hell are you talking about?!  
_  
Another short laugh, if such a humorless and self-loathing sound could be called that. _--Simple. We were to use the Jewel to purify his demonic side, to turn him completely human. He would lose his father's blood, and his claim to his inheritance would be annulled; he would leave the castle, and with no Jewel to look after, I would leave with him, and we would live as a normal human couple the rest of our lives. The perfect plan, wouldn't you agree?--  
_  
The tiny bit of moisture that'd returned to Kagome's mouth dissolved in cold apprehension, like the dry stickiness of an ice cube left out in the freezer too long. _What happened?  
_  
The answer came slowly, with an utter lack of emotion that was somehow worse than the hideous melange she'd just experienced. _--Two nights before we were to use the Jewel, he proposed we wait and tell his mother first, to prepare her for the consequences of her son no longer being her dead lord's heir. I told him his older half-brother would be more than happy to take his place and would not dishonor his father's memory by killing Iyazoi- sama, but he would not listen. The very walls had ears in those days, and had we tried to tell her our plan before its execution, we would have been found out. The castle demons, those that had not already left rather than serve a human and her half-breed son, would not have tolerated their lord giving up his demon heritage for the sake of a human priestess, and were still powerful and numerous enough to have prevented us.  
  
--I grew angry, believing that he was trying to go back on his word, while he insisted that_ I _was the one who was attempting to use his mother as an excuse. I left the castle in order to calm down and headed for his favorite tree...--  
_  
To Kagome's surprise, she suddenly saw a quick flash of Inuyasha lounging up on a branch, nearly at the top of the old tree, casting a sardonic look down. But something was different about him...  
  
Just as abruptly, the image and its melancholy affection vanished, replaced by a hardening of voice and complete disgust. _--He didn't follow for many hours. I thought about my words and actions and finally decided that his concern might have been valid, and I should go back and tell him so.--  
_  
Sharp, burning pain suddenly lanced through Kagome's whole body. _--My apologies.--_ The pain disappeared, leaving her trembling violently. _--I'll try not to remember it too keenly, but being ripped apart does tend to be fairly memorable.... As I was saying, I was about to go back when I was struck down. There was indeed a demon in the area, but it was too far away for him to have used that as an excuse! And that does not account for his behavior or words!--_  
  
_But...I don't understand. I think I saw what happened, in a dream I had a few nights ago..._ Kagome really didn't want to remember, but she grimaced and did so anyway. _He said all that stuff, but then he left, killed the demon, and apologized? Was that it?  
_  
_--...It sounds fairly accurate, yes...--_  
  
There seemed to be some other detail, something else wrong, but Kagome's attempt to remember what it was couldn't withstand the weight of both her emotions and Kikyou's, and she dismissed it as her own indignation and confusion rose. _Why the hell would he do that?! He's a jerk, but he wouldn't do that to you! He tried to make me leave 'cause he was afraid he might hurt me on accident!  
  
--He's grown wiser, then! He knows his own weakness!--  
  
But you said yourself that he just had to wait! If he'd wanted to steal the Jewel, he would've just waited for you to give it to him instead of bringing his mom into it!  
  
--You expect me to know that lying traitor's mind? I'd hardly be surprised to find he merely lost patience!--  
  
...I don't believe you.  
_  
Deadly calm. _--What was that, girl?--  
_  
_I said I don't believe you! Something's not right here!_  
  
Anger flared again, this time unchecked and directed at her, and she gagged, coughing and gasping as the nausea returned with a vengeance. _--You dare call me a liar?!--  
  
I never said that! Stop!  
  
--**Never** say that to me again! Do you understand?!--  
  
Look...doesn't make sense! That's all! Stop it!_  
  
_--Why sh— --_  
  
The mental standoff was broken by a shuffling in the bushes, and the rage receded, reformed and sharpened into tense alertness. With the sickness gone, Kagome was able to raise her head and squint against the new sunlight. "Who's there?" she croaked.  
  
_--Fool. No need to announce your exact location, especially not with the Jewel's power awakened within you now.--_  
  
Sniffling distracted her from replying, and the alertness softened just a little as a little boy stumbled into the clearing, catching himself with bare and scabbed hands. "Are you okay?" Kagome asked, kneeling and leaning in closer, careful not to frighten him.  
  
The boy, who was dressed in a stained, torn and patched blue kimono and looked about ten at the oldest, gaped up at her with wide, tear-glazed eyes, then flung himself at her, arms gripping her neck like a very dirty vise. "It's g-g-g-g—"  
  
_So much for not frightening him._ "Shhhhh," Kagome whispered, shifting him into her arms and patting him soothingly the way she had with Souta many times in the past few years—but also peering into the bushes for whatever had frightened him. The suspicion in the back of her mind increased as the back of her neck began to prickle faintly. "What are you doing so far out here, hm? It's too early."  
  
"He was with me."  
  
All the hairs on the back of her neck went straight up as another boy of about the same age stepped out of the bushes, and the child in her arms flinched, burrowing his head into her shoulder. "Hiboshi and I were just taking a little stroll," the newcomer said calmly.  
  
Kagome frowned at him: he was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, perfectly normal for this time. But— "What are you doing in those clothes? You don't live at the castle, do you?"  
  
"I've been camping out here with my dad." The boy waved vaguely over his shoulder, beady eyes never leaving hers. The chill she'd felt when he first spoke deepened. "I met Hiboshi out here, and he just got freaked out when I showed him some of our stuff. You'd think he never saw a Gameboy before."  
  
Something was definitely not right here. Kagome could feel the mental presence tensing, preparing for something; meanwhile, the chill wasn't going away.  
  
"I can show you our camp if you'd like, ma'am," the boy offered, waving again. "I bet you'd like the chance to get away from the castle for a while."  
  
_How'd he know I'm staying at the castle? Or that it's even there?  
  
--How, indeed?--_ That was the only warning Kagome got before her body suddenly stiffened; one arm swiftly came up, palm facing the strange boy, and, as his unblinking eyes widened in alarm, the air crackled with energy and then sizzled at a burst of _something_ from her hand.  
  
_What the...?!_  
  
Several things happened at once: just as Kagome realized that Kikyou had done something with her body again, her mind also processed the fact that where the boy had stood moments before, there was now a good-sized _lizard_ standing on two legs and looking extremely pissed. And as the lizard sprang at her, jaws gaping and rows of fangs glistening, her body went numb all over and the creature slammed into an invisible wall around her, hissing in pain as its scaly flesh crumbled at the contact—then a shout behind her, a whoosh and flash of steel, dull thudding of two lizard halves on the ground, and Inuyasha kneeling in front of her, scowling and holding Tetsusaiga ready.  
  
Deep breath. 

"Hi," was all she could manage, patting Hiboshi mechanically as he looked up at the dead lizard, then Inuyasha, and clutched her neck tighter.  
  
"Don't 'hi' me, wench!" Inuyasha stood up and scanned the area, sniffing experimentally. Kagome noted with dazed relief as he sank back down that Kikyou had chosen to recede almost entirely now that the danger was over: she'd wondered if the priestess would try to confront Inuyasha the next time she – they – saw him. "I told you there were demons still in this era, dammit! You could've been killed!"  
  
"Yeah...can we go back now?" Kagome looked down at Hiboshi.  
  
"Keh. Fine, wench. C'mere." Inuyasha sheathed Tetsusaiga and, rounding off what was turning out to be a long series of shocks, neatly swept her off her feet. "Hold onto the brat—" And in a heartbeat, they were back in the castle courtyard.  
  
"I'm never gonna get used to that," Kagome mumbled, too dazed to be embarrassed as he set her down. She walked a few steps away and crouched again, trying to coax Hiboshi off her neck. "It's okay, honey, Inuyasha's not going to let anything else near you. You can go inside now."  
  
Now that he was safe, Hiboshi's pride had begun to reassert itself. "I didn't mean to go that far," he mumbled defensively, swiping his eyes with the back of one filthy hand. "I just saw that kid, and he said he wanted to show me something."  
  
"Sounds like a lizard demon, all right," Inuyasha said dismissively, and the boy shrank as he came up closer. "Cowards use tricks like that to get close to their prey and then eat 'em. Not even foxes have to resort to that crap." Hiboshi swallowed hard, and Kagome gave Inuyasha a Look. "What? It's true. You're lucky that one was too stupid to get a couple of sitting ducks like you. How the hell did it get you out that far, anyway?"  
  
"He didn't. I woke up out there and just happened to find Hiboshi." Kagome patted his head.  
  
"Woke up out there?" Inuyasha's scowl deepened. "You were in your bed when I went to sleep last night. If I hadn't found out you were gone a couple of minutes ago, I'd have just figured you were sleeping it off—how the hell did you make it all the way out there without anyone noticing?"  
  
"Hiboshi!" They all turned to look as a stout older woman came hurrying towards them as fast as her kimono and the linen she was carrying from some nearby lines would permit. "Has he been causing any trouble, Inuyasha-sama, Kagome-sama?"  
  
"Lizard demon lured him away. You're lucky Kagome found him. I'd be more careful if I were you," Inuyasha snapped, and the woman paled, dropping the linen to fall on her knees and scoop the boy up.  
  
"You little fool! What have I told you about wandering away from here?!" The servant shook the boy, then hugged him so hard his eyes popped slightly. "Thank you so much, Kagome-sama!"  
  
"It was Inuyasha who killed the demon," Kagome pointed out.  
  
"But you purified it, too," the boy protested, eyeing Inuyasha distastefully.  
  
"You're mixing her up with...someone else," the servant told her son sternly, bobbing her head to Kagome apologetically.  
  
"No, I didn't! Kagome-sama did too purify it!"  
  
The woman's mouth tightened, and she stood up, gripped Hiboshi by the shoulders and bowed very low, forcing him down, too. "Please forgive my son for causing you so much trouble, and for his rudeness. Thank you again, Kagome-sama." She nudged him sharply, and he parroted her with a mumble of "Thank you again, Kagome-sama," then obediently picked up the linen and followed her as she scuttled away.  
  
"No trouble," she called after them, frowning.  
  
"You didn't answer me, wench," Inuyasha snapped behind her. "How'd you get out there?"  
  
"Do they always treat you like that?" Kagome folded her arms and tapped her foot, watching the servant glance at them over her shoulder before ushering her son inside. "No wonder you act like such a jerk sometimes."  
  
"...Shut up, wench. Now, how the hell did y—"  
  
"Good question. I'm gonna go check on Sango, 'kay?"  
  
"Hey!" Inuyasha protested as she started for the steps. "OI! Wait up!"

* * *

The slayer was still snoring softly on Kagome's bed when she returned to the room, irate hanyou in tow. "She was in the exact same spot a little while ago," he grumbled as Kagome pulled her friend all the way back onto the mattress.  
  
"Thanks for checking on us earlier," Kagome replied. "And for taking me back."  
  
"Keh. Thank the hag. She made a bunch of stuff for you idiots to take." Inuyasha jerked his head at a small jug he'd left on the TV box. "You don't look like you need it anymore..." His eyes narrowed. "So you woke up before dawn, got yourself way the crap out there somehow, and you're standing upright after you drank yourself halfway to hell last night? Mind telling me what's going on, wench?"  
  
"Believe me, if I knew, I'd tell you." Kagome was on the point of blaming it on _her_, but the presence stirred and gave off a distinctly warning impression, and she decided not to push it. "Now go away for a minute. I need to change."  
  
Inuyasha's eye went through a series of rapid tics. "You don't know?! Don't give me th—"  
  
"We'll discuss this later, okay? Okay." She turned around and began rummaging through a nearby trunk for something cool to wear, ignoring his growling till it became clear that he wasn't going anywhere. "Good_bye_." Kagome made as if to pull her shirt over her head and was rewarded with a choking noise, then complete silence. She risked a peek behind her and smirked: he'd disappeared.  
  
_Wait—disappeared..._ Kagome paused in the middle of slipping a short, light cotton dress over her head. If Inuyasha got the power to do that from the Jewel and _she'd_ just done the same thing to get Kagome out into the woods...  
  
_--I used your own power, not the portion left in the Tree as Inuyasha does.--_  
  
Kagome jumped. _Aaaaagh! Don't do that!  
  
--It makes perfect sense if you only think about it. I would not have been able to reveal the demon and then block it if you lacked the appropriate abilities.--  
  
...So I could do that if I wanted to?  
  
--Don't ask foolish questions. Of course you could. You simply haven't had the chance to use it before.--  
_  
This was giving her yet another headache. _So I've got a magic rock stuck in me somewhere and I can warp around and zap bad guys? Do you have any idea how weird this all is to me?!  
  
--Your immaturity would give me that impression, yes.--_ Kagome wished there was some way to stick her tongue out at that, even if it wouldn't quite help. _--You are my reincarnation, after all—why wouldn't you be able to do such things? I could do them on my own strength. I never used the Jewel.--  
  
But I have to use a prop? Ah, well. _Kagome finished dressing and smoothed out the white fabric, tracing its faded red sunburst pattern idly. _Maybe you should tell me how to do whatever it was you did in case something else comes after me. Then you can just go to sleep and not have to worry about me getting eaten or anything.  
  
--I'm sure you'd prefer that...and perhaps that is the best idea. Demons will seek this place out now that the Jewel and I have come out of dormancy.--_ Kagome held her breath as the priestess mulled it over. _--Perhaps you'd best ask my younger sister. I would like to continue observing, but our current situation is hardly comfortable for either of us.--  
  
Amen to that. So who's your sister?  
_  
For the first time, genuine amusement surfaced. _--I'll let you discover that on your own.--_ And then she was gone, submerged so that Kagome could barely tell she was there.  
  
"Cute," Kagome grumbled aloud, twisting her hair up into a loose bundle and tying it high on her head. _I should've taken a bath before I got dressed. We didn't get a chance last night, and now I'm all sweaty thanks to our little field trip. Nice way to smell when I have to go track someone down...  
_  
She faltered in the act of pulling Sango back onto the bed: once again, the slayer had flopped over and was in danger of falling to the floor like a sack of wet potatoes.  
  
_Inuyasha can eavesdrop, the pig...so if he can transport himself around, and I can too, then...hmmmmm..._  
  
It was a good thought, of course, but the fatal flaw became evident once she stopped congratulating herself and tried it. "She's supposed to tell me how to do this," Kagome groaned aloud, putting her face in her hands. "I can't find her that way unless I know how, and I don't know how till I find her! Dammit, dammit, crap!"  
  
"Kagome!" The shoji flew open and a furry ball thudded into her arms. "You're already awake!"  
  
"Hi, Shippou-chan." Kagome grinned at the kit and ruffled his hair, glad for the distraction. "How's it going?"  
  
A surprisingly loud growl from his stomach made Kagome laugh and bounce him playfully. "That's all the answer I need. Wanna do Sango a favor and go get breakfast ourselves?"  
  
"Yeah!" Shippou clambered onto her shoulder. "She's gonna need some of Kaede's stuff when she wakes up, too. Did you already take some?"  
  
"Special stuff?" Kagome repeated, then cringed inwardly. _Should've known he would know we got plastered last night._ "No, but I'm fine now."  
  
"That's good. I knew you wouldn't be that dumb, but I smelled some of it when I came in last night," the boy said matter-of-factly, and Kagome smiled weakly.  
  
"Kagome?" She stopped outside the room and turned as the old herbalist came shuffling up.  
  
"Hello, Kaede." Kagome bobbed her head politely. "Inuyasha already left some herbs in my room for Sango, and I'm all right now. Thank you."  
  
"Good, good, child. But I need to speak with ye about other matters as well." Kaede smiled at Shippou. "Please guide Kagome-sama to the shrine after your meal, little one."  
  
"Okay," the fox chirped, waving as the old woman bowed creakily and shuffled off.  
  
"I always liked Kaede," he confided, whispering in one of Kagome's ears and darting his eyes around to make sure no one was listening. "She wasn't nearly as creepy as the other priestess lady."  
  
"Oh?" They both fell silent as Kagome rounded the corner and entered the kitchens.  
  
"What are you doing here, Kagome-sama?" one sharp-faced servant demanded, putting her knife down and bowing shortly. "Where's Sango-san?"  
  
"She's feeling ill, and I insisted upon coming myself. I've never seen this part of the castle, after all," Kagome said steadily, ignoring giggles and whispers from around the kitchen. "I don't really like being waited on in the first place, so I would've come sooner or later." She caught one cluster of teen-aged girls staring at her and Shippou in near-open amusement and gave them a long, steady glare; each one turned some shade of white or red and became intensely interested in doing some kind of nearby work.  
  
"Whatever Kagome-sama wishes," the first woman said smoothly, bowing with more respect than before and shooting the nearest girl behind her a venomous look. "Please pardon our rudeness. What would you like for today?"  
  
It took the better part of ten minutes to get enough food for the three of them and several more to convince the servants to let her carry it back herself; Shippou was too small, but letting one of them come back and see Sango in her current state was more than Kagome was willing to even consider. "What a pain in the ass," Kagome muttered as she walked back towards the room, not caring how much like her sisters she sounded. "You'd think they never knew anyone who wanted to do their own work."  
  
"They're used to waiting on Inuyasha hand and foot," Shippou pointed out. "He doesn't really like it very much, either, so they do it all the time."  
  
Kagome snorted. "So it's a vicious cycle, eh?" She waited for Shippou to hop down and open the shoji. "I'd like to be friends with them, but not if they act like that."  
  
"Not all of 'em do." Shippou watched her like a hawk as she put the tray down and set the food out, knelt and picked up chopsticks. Kagome picked up a bowl, raised it to give him room to scramble onto her lap, and, as she wasn't very hungry yet, handed him her chopsticks, holding the bowl for him to scoop from.  
  
With the kit's mouth occupied, Kagome let her mind wander. _I wonder what they talk about amongst themselves. Probably me and Inuyasha. Wish I could hear......nah, actually, I probably don't.  
_  
The rice was nearly gone and Kagome about to start on her miso when they heard a faint groan from the bed. "Morning," Kagome said cheerfully, setting Shippou down gently and rising to unplug the bottle Inuyasha had left. "How're you feeling?"  
  
"Mmmphrrrrggg." Sango blinked painfully and raised her head, swallowing hard. "Horr'ble."  
  
"Here." Kagome offered her some tea, then the jug. "No! Don't spit it out!" She sighed in relief as the slayer obediently gulped it down and coughed.  
  
"What the...?" Sango ran a hand slowly through her dark hair, which bore a striking resemblance to a bird's nest left out in the rain. She blinked again, rubbing bloodshot eyes. "I feel _awful_."  
  
Kagome gave her a fresh cup of tea and winced as she drained it all in a few seconds. "We've got food here if you're hungry."  
  
"Hells, no, thank you. I feel sick enough." Sango rolled over and stared blearily at the ceiling. "Did we get drunk?"  
  
Kagome and Shippou stared at her. "Uh...what do you remember, Sango-chan?"  
  
Sango made a face. "We had dinner together in here. You were telling that story and I was drinking a lot. And now I feel like death."  
  
"...And that's all?"  
  
"Yes." Sango threw one forearm across her eyes. "Please tell me he didn't do anything. I wouldn't trust him to keep control when he's drunk."  
  
Kagome had to fake a violent coughing fit to keep from bursting out laughing. "Sorry, uh, got something stuck in my throat." She took a few more seconds to compose herself. "No, no, he was a perfect gentleman. You really don't give him enough credit sometimes."  
  
"If you say so..." Sango sat up carefully, too intent on staying upright to notice Kagome still smothering laughter and Shippou looking at her curiously. "If he had tried anything, I'd have killed him anyway, so it's just as well."  
  
That was a little too much, and Kagome's control failed. "What are you laughing at, Kagome-chan?"  
  
"At you." Inuyasha came into the room and flopped down, folding his hands into his wide sleeves and eyeing Kagome. "Not that she's in any position to laugh."  
  
Kagome abruptly stopped laughing and flushed as certain details came back to her. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and cracked his knuckles as he addressed Sango. "If you want an explanation, you're gonna have to wait in line."  
  
"Speaking of which, I have an appointment." Kagome rose and opened the shoji, raising her voice over Inuyasha's exasperated growls. "C'mon, Shippou-chan, we have to go see Kaede. Wait for me here, Sango-chan, okay?"  
  
"Look, you st—" Kagome slammed the shoji in his face and power-walked out to the front entrance hall, holding Shippou like a football under one arm till they were safely out of his bellowing range. _Why did he have to bring that up now?!_ She hadn't remembered what she'd done till he said so, of course...  
  
_Uuugh. Forgetting about it, starting...now._ "Sorry about that." She set Shippou down gently and crouched. "So, where's Kaede?"  
  
"Out here." Shippou hopped onto her knees and turned to point outside, towards the east. "There's a little shrine. It's hard to see."  
  
Kagome received a few strange looks from servants outside, but most of them bowed respectfully enough, and she supposed her dress was pretty strange by their standards, so she decided to let the double takes slide. It was already distinctly warm out and it was barely midmorning; she was more comfortable than they were, anyway. _So there.  
_  
"What was Inuyasha talking about?" Shippou asked, pointing her around the courtyard once they were down the steps.  
  
"Nothing much." She poked the kit's sides gently and smiled as he wriggled. "You wouldn't happen to know if the old priestess had a little sister, would you?"  
  
"A little one? Nuh-uh." Shippou suddenly leapt down and raced ahead on all fours, tail bobbing. "It's right—there!"  
  
Kagome followed his gaze and tiny pointing finger towards a neat, well-kept but very small shrine almost hidden from view against the side of the castle. She took a few steps towards it and rubbed her bare arms unconsciously. "Wow. Thanks, Shippou-chan." She came closer, then stopped. "Aren't you coming in?"  
  
"I can't." The little fox shrugged. "No demons allowed. Not even Inuyasha can go in. The priestess was the only one who ever went there, but now Kaede stays there and Miroku goes in sometimes."  
  
"Oh." That might explain the borderline creepy feeling she was getting from the place; it wasn't bad, per se, just a little forbidding. "Well, thanks for showing me. I'll see you later, okay?"  
  
"'Kay." Shippou waved, then squeaked as Kagome impulsively came back to him and swept him up in a hug. "Hey! I'm not a baby!"  
  
"Of course not." Kagome tickled him a little more, and his poorly faked scowl dissolved in giggles. "If you were, I wouldn't trust you to make sure Miroku doesn't talk to Sango till I've told her what happened!"  
  
"I can do that." Shippou hugged her shoulder and slipped out of her grasp. "See you later!" He waved again and scampered back towards the castle.  
  
"Ye have a way with children," Kaede observed from directly behind her, and Kagome squeaked almost the way Shippou had.  
  
"My apologies, child. I meant not to surprise ye." The herbalist bowed her head and indicated the shrine. "Shall ye come inside?"  
  
"Okay." Kagome waved at Shippou once last time and followed a faint stone-outlined path up to the little shrine.  
  
"'Tis good that the snow has melted," Kaede said conversationally, hobbling along at a fairly quick pace. "Greenery may return soon as well. One hopes Inuyasha's mood stays steady long enough."  
  
"I hope so, too." Kagome paused outside the door. Was it her imagination, or was it glowing? "Is there something...?"  
  
"Ye see the sutras?" Kaede came up and placed one knobby, veined hand on the door. Immediately the glow intensified, and Kagome squinted. "I see ye can. Most impressive." The old woman pushed the door open. "There is but little room, I am afraid, but please make yourself comfortable."  
  
"Thank you." With a last look at the doors, Kagome stepped inside and knelt on a cushion obviously set there for her, as the other was placed directly in front of a little altar and looked much older and more worn by constant use.  
  
"Now, child..." Kaede sank onto the old cushion with a slight grunt. "Pardon. My joints are not what they used to be." Kagome remained politely silent as she made herself comfortable. "Inuyasha tells me ye are a...predecessor...of one who lived here before."  
  
Kagome stiffened. "Maybe. Miroku thinks I'm her reincarnation, and so does sh—" She bit the last word off: nice as Kaede seemed, there was no point in letting anyone else know that she was carrying a little extra baggage these days. _Especially not a voice in my head.  
_  
"Oh? And why wouldn't ye be? Your resemblance is uncanny." Kaede's single eye narrowed.  
  
"I'm not saying it's true or impossible. I just don't like the thought on top of everything else that's happened to me," Kagome said tersely._ Not this again...  
_  
"I imagine so, child, but there is no shame in being linked to one who was as strong, kind and respected as—"  
  
"From what I've gathered, she was pretty much everything I'm not, and being constantly compared to her is getting annoying." She hadn't meant to snap, but the headache had come back yet again, and being asked about this yet again was really starting to piss her off. _Maybe I should just tell her, "She's set up camp in my brain—want me to invite her out? Might be fun!"_  
  
Kaede regarded her calmly. "Ye sound upset. Pray tell me, what bothers ye so much about it?"  
  
"Are you serious?!" That did it. _Hell, if she's asking, I'm gonna tell her!_ "I'm stuck here two and a half more months because I either get engaged to a guy who can't decide whether he hates me or not and is still in love with a stuck-up dead chick living in my head who nearly gets me eaten and insists he chopped her into fishsticks...or I keep telling him to piss off and raising his blood pressure for the rest of the time and let him go apeshit and kill everyone here, including you, and then he dies a horrible, bloody death knowing he's killed everyone he even vaguely cares about, and then I go home, la la la, glad that's over, time to get back to cleaning up and making sure my sister doesn't burn the fucking shrine down!"  
  
Kagome bit her lips as the echoes of the last word faded from the little room. Her hands were clenched almost painfully on her knees. _Wow. That felt kinda good.... But only kinda._ She swiped at her eyes, willing her breathing to slow down. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to yell like that."  
  
Kaede took a deep breath and released it slowly. "I had no idea ye were under quite that much stress. Please forgive me." She cautiously patted one of Kagome's hands. "Did ye say she is...?"  
  
"Yeah. I know I'm her reincarnation, but that doesn't mean I like having her hang around and tell me that Inuyasha...did...stuff...when he already told me he didn't." Or had he?...No, she was sure he couldn't have done anything like that. _For crap's sake, he can't take me crying, and he doesn't even like me! No way he would've done all that to someone he loved..._  
  
"I see. Have ye asked him about that?" Kaede's voice took on a curious edge.  
  
"No!" Kagome bristled. "He already told me his side, and I believe him. But...but I don't think she's lying either, and I was confused enough before...!"  
  
"Calm down, child," Kaede said soothingly, and Kagome forced herself to breathe deeply. "So ye trust him already?"  
  
Kagome started. "Trust him?" She pondered that for a second. "...Yeah, I guess I do. He's a jerk, but he's really honest. If he says something happened one way, I don't think he'd lie about it."  
  
The old woman nodded slowly. "You know him better already than many who have lived here twice your age."  
  
"Well, he's not hard to read." Kagome shrugged.  
  
"Nay, but his manner prevents many from wishing to learn that. He was taught from his earliest days that he must remain forever on his guard, and while it was valid when he was young and vulnerable to his brother and other demons – even some humans – it also left him unable to drop that guard, even when it was no longer necessary, and he has thus alienated nearly everyone he knows. But ye have already guessed as much." Kagome nodded. "Then I trust ye to make the best of your situation, better than nearly any other girl could."  
  
"Thank you, Kaede." Kagome bowed her head, feeling marginally better. "Oh, and while I'm here, can I ask you something?" The herbalist nodded. "Did Kikyou ever have a little sister?"  
  
The old woman flinched as if struck repeatedly, and Kagome wondered if she should've avoided using the priestess's name like usual...but the presence hadn't seemed to care, so neither did she anymore.  
  
"She had a younger sister once, yes," Kaede said, very slowly. "Why do ye ask?"  
  
"Because she told me to find her younger sister and ask about controlling my powers." An unbidden image of herself in a cheesy superhero costume rose to mind, and she shoved it down in violent distaste.  
  
Some of her aversion must've shown in her expression, for Kaede smiled and shook her head. "Ye dislike the idea?"  
  
"Well, I'm used to the idea of demons and everything by now, but the concept of me being able to do stuff like that still seems a little...out there," Kagome said apologetically. "I know it's true, though, so I'd like to know how to deal with them."  
  
"I see. Ye do know I am also a priestess myself, correct?"  
  
"Well, yeah, but..." Kagome trailed off, not wanting to be rude, but vaguely certain that following Kikyou's advice would probably be best in this case.  
  
Kaede chuckled and shook her head. "No point in skimming around it..._I_ am her younger sister."  
  
Kagome blinked.  
  
"Would you care for a word of explanation, child? The curse is not so stringent in this place as it is on the rest of the grounds."  
  
Nodnodnodnodnod.  
  
"All right, then.  
  
"I traveled with my sister and came to reside here when she did. I was only a child, no more than 10 or so. I had little contact with Inuyasha, as I was training to become a priestess like my sister, but she spoke to me on occasion about him. Mostly it was about how I should watch out for demons and half-demons and what an ill-mannered example Inuyasha was, but as time went by, it became evident that her feelings were not quite the same—a remarkable thing in itself for my sister. She was very wise, far beyond her years, and rarely did she reverse her judgment on any matter.  
  
"But soon enough, she stopped speaking of him, and when I mentioned him, she would not answer. At the time I believed that she must hate him even more, but as I grew older, I realized she was merely hesitant to speak of her feelings lest she either lie or say more than she was willing to admit."  
  
"I know how they fell in love, and...kind of what happened and why he ended up cursed," Kagome said as politely as she could while the old woman stopped to catch her breath. "Were you here when they were cursed?"  
  
"Nay, or else I would be a girl still." Kaede chuckled again. "I was in a nearby village, gathering herbs and consulting with the elders on my sister's behalf as part of my training. On my way home, I felt a tremendous shock, and imagine my surprise to find that the castle grounds were empty and devoid of all life.  
  
"Had I stayed longer and investigated more deeply, I might have guessed for myself what happened, but I was young and too distressed to use my spiritual awareness to any degree. I headed back to the village and told the elders what had happened; they declared the castle cursed – quite appropriately – and forbade anyone from ever returning, myself included. A kind family took me in, and there I lived for nearly fifty more years."  
  
"How'd—" Kagome clamped her jaws shut. "Sorry."  
  
"Quite all right, child. I returned here when I was beset by loneliness and melancholy one winter day; my aim was simply to see this place one last time before my death, but lo and behold, when I came inside, there was Inuyasha to greet me. He seemed quite surprised that I could see him, but soon he remembered me and told me what had happened. I was quite lucky to have come upon him, as he only wakes briefly every decade or so on his own to check the grounds.  
  
"When I discovered what had transpired, I felt guilt – undeserved, but strong nonetheless – for having escaped the curse, and asked that I be allowed to rejoin him and give any aid I could. Of course he laughed at first, but when he saw that I was serious, he soon gave way, and here I am."  
  
Kagome's jaw fell open. "You _volunteered_ to be here?!"  
  
Kaede's single eye grew mischievous. "From what I hear, 'tis little different from what ye did, child."  
  
Kagome felt her face heating. "I guess so. But my dad's life was at stake. You could've just left again."  
  
Now the old woman was grinning openly. "Could ye leave now, knowing Inuyasha as ye do? Would you go back home if ye had the choice?"  
  
"It's not the same!" Kagome protested. "I—you—"  
  
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. But I suspect our motives are nearly the same. We know he is a good person and wish to help." Kaede patted Kagome's hand again. "Forgive me for saying so, but I suspect ye would be far less likely to raise your voice if you cared nothing for him."  
  
"Oh, c'mon. I just don't hate him enough to enjoy his suffering." Kagome forced a smile through her increasing discomfort. "It's almost time for lunch. Should I come back after I eat?"  
  
"Nay, child, we've spoken long enough for today." Kaede paused thoughtfully. "If my sister did tell you to come here...hmmm..." She tapped her wrinkled fingers. "I've gathered her presence is not enjoyable to ye?"  
  
"No." Kagome perked up. "That's right, she said to see her sister about that. Is there some way to make her go away, or at least somewhere else?"  
  
"Perhaps." Kaede slowly got to her feet, grimacing. "Come over here, child. I wish to try something."  
  
Kagome followed her to the altar, where Kaede was crouched next to a small statue. "Souls need a physical body in order to sustain their existence till their next rebirth, but so long as ye two share the same soul, she may be able to exist outside a human form by maintaining a small link with ye."  
  
"Really?" Kagome thought she got it. "What kind of link?"  
  
"If we ask her to house herself within an object such as this, and ye return here every day or so to renew the contact, then—"  
  
"The tree!" Kagome leapt to her feet, nearly knocking the old woman over. "That's perfect! Thanks, Kaede! Later!" And she sprinted out the door before Kaede could quite grasp what she'd said.  
  
_--I would prefer the statue.--_  
  
The voice nearly stopped Kagome in her tracks. _What? Why?  
  
--You really don't think I would be averse to return to the place of my death?--_  
  
_Oh. Sorry..._ Kagome halted. _So should we go back to the statue?_  
  
There was a very long silence. _Kikyou? Is that a "duh, yes"?  
  
--On second thought, I believe the Tree may be more appropriate, yes. Please go there.--  
  
Oh. Okay._ Kagome took off for the tree at a jog, less confident than before but still elated at the prospect of not having to share her mind anymore.  
  
_--I hardly enjoy it, either.--_  
  
Kagome ignored her and kept going, slowing to a walk when a stitch developed in her side. When she finally reached the little clearing, she stopped and took a deep breath. "Here we are."  
  
She could feel Kikyou struggling not to remember that last night. _--Very good. Now, please go and touch the Tree.--  
  
Seems simple enough_. A slight misgiving pricked her, lightly, then stronger, and she frowned. _Are you sure you don't want the statue? It's right there in the castle, and—_  
  
_--Too easily disturbed, and you won't want to do this more than once. I am part of you, after all, and my removal will likely not be pleasant.--_  
  
Gulp. _No worse than having you around, no offense.  
  
--Little taken. Now...--_  
  
That old feeling of dread crept up on her as she ascended the slope and stepped around roots. _At least I know what it is this time...not sure that's an improvement, though..._  
  
And she reached forward.  
  
"KAGOME! What the fuck are you doing?!"  
  
Kagome's whole body stiffened in surprise. She started to turn—lost her balance—fell against the tree to catch herself—  
  
Inuyasha was just in time to grab her as she crumpled to the ground. "Kagome? Kagome?!" He shook her lightly. "What the hell is going on?!"  
  
"Hello, Inuyasha." His ears flattened as Kikyou's voice drifted down from the tree's middle branches. Slowly his head came up and turned to face hers. She seemed solid enough...he sniffed, incredulous and a little sick with apprehension. Nothing.  
  
"I'm not really here." The priestess sat up, smoothing her white kimono and red hakama. "This form appears real, but I'm only borrowing the Tree's power. Don't worry about the girl—your curse is not fulfilled yet. She'll wake up soon enough—perhaps tomorrow. As will I." She inclined her head and seemed to fade back into the bark.  
  
"Wait! Kikyou, _wait_!" No response. Inuyasha's shoulders sagged. "Kikyou..." He looked down at Kagome. Her face was pale...much too pale. With a last bewildered look at the tree, Inuyasha shifted the girl into his arms and took off for the castle. Whatever the hell was going on, he was going to find out _now._

Or so he hoped.

* * *

A/N: 13th chapter: good a time as any to whip out a cliffie-hanger. I only do so because I'll have the next chapter up veddy, veddy soon, I swear. In fact, I'm probably writing it as you read this. I'm just that good. ;D And it'll be more fun. Can't keep up the "story" for too long at once. It's not healthy. :3 


	14. Recovery

Disclaimer: Inuyasha's not mine, but I prefer my boyfriend anyway, so no skin off my nose.  
  
A/N: Here we are, ze promised chapter, a tad on the short side (for me) and a bit late—BUT I have an excuse...the phone jacks in my room and some of the neighbors' screwed themselves up Sunday night. I got NO sleep in order to bring this to y'all as soon as I could (sorry, PhoenixoftheMoon, but I had difficulty getting this up Monday morning, much less before Sunday...) Blarg. Very frustrating, having done this on time and not being able to post it. Ah, well...I'm not a chronic promise-breaker, I promise. : (  
  
And in response to a coupla queries I've gotten, I must say that 1. Good question, ArtemisMoon: I have no idea how long this fic'll be, but I'll be skipping days or weeks starting very soon; as much fun as I'm having with this, I don't wanna crank out a total of 90 chapters...and 2. I know a bit of Japanese and am aware of Tetsusaiga vs. Tessaiga, but I saw Viz's interpretation of the large tsu first in the licensed English manga, before I started reading the translations and their proper spellings of names like Kikyou, Kouga and Shippou (Viz leaves the u out—for those of you who don't read or speak any Japanese, it denotes a longer vowel sound, and omitting it creates another word entirely, so yes, it is important). So thanks for pointing it out, Choubaka, but though I'm a stickler for spelling most names properly, I'm just too used to seeing and writing Tetsusaiga to use Tessaiga. (Everyone else: if you're confuzzled about the tsu thing, check out this story's reviews for a kindly provided explanation.)

* * *

**Beast**  
  
**Chapter 14  
**  
Kagome's eyes opened quite suddenly, and for a second she just stared at the ceiling, mind utterly blank.  
  
"Come over here, girl, and kindly hurry."  
  
Reflexively she sat up in a split second, then winced, waiting for a head rush or a headache or something to show for it...and noticed with some surprise that nothing happened.  
  
"Here."  
  
Kagome obediently swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up. "Where are you?" Sango was nowhere to be seen, not even her futon; that voice definitely wasn't Shippou, either. At least it wasn't inside her head this time...  
  
A hazy image flickered near the corner. "Right here. Come near me. I have less difficulty speaking to you this way if your mind is properly focused."  
  
Kagome plopped down on her knees a few feet away, and the image rippled, solidifying into that of a beautiful young woman, kneeling, dressed in priestess clothes. It didn't take the fact that her features mirrored Kagome's to help her figure out whom it was. "What're you doing here, Kikyou?" _Damn, this is freaky...  
_  
"Call it a courtesy visit before I...shall we say, fade into the background...for a time." Kikyou inclined her head slightly.  
  
"Oh." Kagome frowned. "We did separate, right?" The priestess tilted her head forward in acknowledgment. "Good, 'cause that frickin' hurt. I know you warned me, but..." Her head twinged slightly just remembering that horrible tearing sensation.  
  
"Sometimes sacrifices are necessary for all of us." Kikyou's face remained impassive, but Kagome caught her fiddling with her hands for a moment before regaining her austerity.  
  
"Uh...right. So if you're here, then..." Kagome paused to pinch the back of her arm very hard. Nothing. "I'll be damned, it worked. I am dreaming."  
  
"Correct. As I said, I'd prefer to remain unseen for a time while the curse plays out. I merely thought you might wish to know something before I do."  
  
"Okay, thanks...but why didn't you tell me before?"  
  
Kikyou reached up to smooth a nonexistent lock of hair away from her face. "Impatience. I hardly enjoyed having to reside in your mind."  
  
"And the feeling was _really_ mutual. So what've you got to say?"  
  
"My sister was dutiful in her training, but she has never worked with the Jewel, so certain things are not within her power to teach. You must know how to cast your mind about the castle and grounds; you need not be asleep, but your body will be vulnerable in that time, so you must take care with using it. Moving your entire self about instantly is more difficult, and more draining, so I will teach you to do so after you've become accustomed to simpler tricks."  
  
_Eavesdropping anywhere, instantly? Trick, my ass._ Kagome waited for any sign that the priestess had heard that and got none. _Nice. Maybe she can't hear me think if she's only visiting... _"Got it," she said aloud. Then, unable to hide her curiosity, "How much did you use this?"  
  
"Life for the guardian of the Shikon Jewel was more dangerous than you could ever imagine, girl," Kikyou said coldly. "If I was not completely aware of my surroundings at all times, I would have..." Dark humor glinted for a moment in her eyes. "Well, you saw how I still ended my life."  
  
"Okay, I get it. You _had_ to. Now, how does it work?"  
  
"I discovered a simple method. Imagine your mind as a stone, a small one..."  
  
_Wait, was that an insult?_  
  
"And the rooms in this castle, or small areas outside, are pools of water. You need only associate the images with where you wish to go, cast your stone into each pool and then withdraw it as necessary in order to be there. Take caution not to attempt to submerge yourself in too large an area, or you may have extreme difficulty extracting your mind. Thus this exercise is not practical outdoors—you must know exactly where you wish to listen and watch, or you will waste your time and strength searching endlessly. If you must search a large space such as the great hall, look in small areas at a time, not the entirety."  
  
"Makes sense." Kagome pondered for a moment. "Can I try it now?"  
  
The priestess hesitated only a moment before nodding acquiescence. "All right. It's wisest to move slowly at first...I suppose you may try to listen to what is happening in the waking world around your body at this moment."  
  
Kagome nodded and took a deep breath, closing her eyes.  
  
"Clear your mind and imagine the pool."  
  
Kagome let it out shortly and cracked one eye open. "I was. Could you keep quiet for a sec and let me try first?" Kikyou frowned slightly but said nothing. "Thank you."  
  
She reformed the image of her room as a little pond – the room was a decent size, but not huge – and pictured a rock the size of a golf ball hovering over it. _Here goes... _She let the rock drop.  
  
The world reeled for a few seconds, and she had the uncomfortable sensation of flipping upside down and then back up in a heartbeat—but without any stomach to feel sick with. _Holy crap, this is weird! And I'm sleeping right here in the room already, dammit...what's it gonna be like going outside this way?!  
_  
A movement in the blurry screen of color surrounding her made her focus, and she recognized Sango as the vision cleared. The slayer was looking over her shoulder, almost straight at Kagome: if her mind's eye had been a camera lens, it'd be pointed right at her friend's face. "What is it, houshi-sama?"  
  
Kagome tried to turn around to look and managed a feeble 'glance' over at the monk, who bowed and moved to the side of the bed, where Kagome saw with some shock that _she_ was lying, asleep. "I came to check on Kagome-sama. I persuaded Inuyasha to go work some of his energy off in the forest."  
  
Only curiosity about these two and reminding herself of Kikyou's warning kept Kagome from mentally running after him: what was he doing out there? Ah, well, she could always ask later—especially not when she felt like she was listening to a mediocre radio station at the moment. There wasn't exactly static, but the voices seemed a bit muffled, distinguishable but not terribly clear. Better to wait till she could have at him when she could understand him.  
  
"I hope she's all right," Sango said quietly, pulling the top blanket over Kagome's shoulders despite the room's slightly stuffy warmth.  
  
"I believe so, Sango-sama." Miroku reached to pat Sango on the shoulder, pausing in midair and watching her sideways in sudden indecision.  
  
Kagome would've held her breath if she could. _C'mon, Miroku, go for it!  
_  
The monk lowered his hand, then put on a cheerful expression and clapped her on the shoulder. "You should go get something to eat, Sango-sama. I'll stand guard in case she wakes."  
  
Sango snorted. "As if I'd trust you with her while she's asleep. No, thank you, houshi-sama."  
  
"I would never stoop so low, and especially not with Kagome-sama." Miroku shook his head gravely. "Whatever would make you think so little of me?"  
  
"Whatever would make me think I could trust you?" Sango retorted, eyes still on the bed.  
  
_Ooooooooh. That one had to hurt. Sango, you dope!_ Kagome heartily wished herself awake and capable of slapping some sense into her friend, who did not see the monk's eyes close in a deep, unconscious grimace before the careless mask came back up. "I suppose I deserved that. But please accept my assurances that I do not and would never...er...take advantage of a woman not capable of refusing me logically."  
  
Sango spared him a puzzled glance for his odd tone, and Kagome berated herself for not just telling her what'd happened the night before. Or was it? _Man, I need to wake up soon and see how long I've been out.........after these guys finish talking, of course_.  
  
"What the hell are you two babbling about?" Inuyasha stalked into the room and scowled at the bed, where Kagome willed her body to rise up and smack him, too, for interrupting. _...Nothing doing. Damn._  
  
"She's not sick or anything," the hanyou was saying. "You two can go do whatever it is you do when I'm not here. I'll take over."  
  
"Why, so you can throttle her when she awakes? I think not," Sango snapped, flushing at Miroku's cheerfully suggestive look.  
  
"Don't be stupid. I just need to ask her some stuff I can't talk about in front of you." Now he was the one to grow flustered as the monk and slayer raised eyebrows at each other. "Not _that_, you idiots! Just go away and give me a minute till I send for you!"  
  
"Is Kagome better yet?" Inuyasha growled louder as the fox kit peeked around the corner, nose wrinkling in disappointment. "She's still sleeping?"  
  
"Go play outside, Shippou," Sango told him gently but firmly. "We'll tell you when she wakes up."  
  
"Oh. Okay." With a last disappointed glance, the boy obediently disappeared.  
  
"Nice to know someone around here can follow orders. Now, bouzu, I mean it. You two get out n—"  
  
"Did ye wish to see me, Sango?" Inuyasha's back teeth ground audibly as the old herbalist slid the shoji back. Kagome almost felt sorry for him—almost. She had a pretty good idea what he wanted to talk about, too...  
  
"Yes, Kaede, I need some...tea." Sango stepped past the monk, watching him carefully till she was out of grabbing range. "I'll be right back, Inuyasha."  
  
"That's just great." Inuyasha tapped his first two claws irritably on one bedpost. "Fine, then. Out, bouzu."  
  
"No chance," the monk said serenely, and Kagome fancied Inuyasha's eyes actually grew three or four shades darker before he folded his hands into his sleeves and plunked onto the floor.  
  
Then, of course, he had to stand right back up; otherwise, he was stuck looking up at the bed. "What're you lookin' at?" he snarled at Miroku, turning to favor the two women as well. "And I thought you had to do something!"  
  
"Of course, Inuyasha." Kaede bowed. "I do hope ye will not blame Kagome- sama for this when she wakes. None of the castle's troubles, nor her rebirth, are any fault of hers, and yet she suffers on her account and yours."  
  
"Shut up and get the hell out, hag." Inuyasha tapped one bare foot restlessly, then the other.  
  
"She gives herself little credit if she has put up with ye this far already," Kaede murmured, beckoning for Sango to follow her out.  
  
"Yeah, she probably does. She's stupid like that." Inuyasha looked down at the bed with an unreadable expression, and Kagome wasn't quite sure what to think. It didn't _feel_ like an insult...but—  
  
To her utter frustration, Inuyasha remained in that weird, almost thoughtful pose and Miroku seemed to be thinking of something; neither of the two said a word till Sango came back in several minutes later. "Any change?"  
  
"She's been out all night and most of the morning. Why the hell would she wake up just 'cause you left for a minute?" Inuyasha grumbled.  
  
"No, she's still asleep, Sango-sama," Miroku replied at the same time, rapping Inuyasha smartly between the ears and ignoring a muttered threat about shoving the staff somewhere.  
  
"I see." Sango reached for the blanket, and Kagome suddenly felt a strange tingling, like her whole body was coming to after being numb for a while—and the world turned upside down and back again—  
  
"I think she's waking up," Kagome heard dimly. Only this time the voice sounded real, if a little sleep-fuzzy, and that pins-and-needles feeling came back, stronger, before fading away entirely. "Kagome-chan?"  
  
Her eyelids felt like sandpaper glued together, but she blinked once experimentally, and the icky sensation promptly vanished. All three around the bed jumped as she sat up like a shot and touched her head: no head rush this time, either, though she was definitely awake now. _Weird...but hey, who am I to question waking up without some kind of horrible pain somewhere?  
_  
"Kagome-sama? How are you feeling?" Miroku asked, moving forward to peer into her face.  
  
"I..." They drew closer as her features clouded over and she frowned.  
  
"Oi, you okay, wench?" Inuyasha snapped, concern roughening his voice even further.  
  
Kagome bit her lip and passed a hand over her face. They leaned over, listening worriedly as she spoke in a whisper. "I...really have to pee."  
  
Everyone froze. "You...what?"  
  
"Pee. I hafta use the bathroom. J'ai besoin de pisser." _Three languages. Nice. Gotta teach Sango some English and French so we can drive the guys crazy some time...  
_  
Of course, if Inuyasha's eye tic was any indication, she was already pretty close as it was. "You...all that...pass out for night...and all you say is—?!"  
  
"Back up and let me out, would you?" Kagome flung the covers off, noticing with belated gratitude that her dress was still on. "If you give us a minute, we'll be outside, Inuyasha."  
  
"Hey—wait one damn—come back here!"

Miroku discreetly backed out of swiping range as the women left, chatting quietly, and Inuyasha began to look downright dangerous. The hanyou wasn't nearly as violent as he tried to let people think, but one never knew.

* * *

The moment she finished and came back out into the front courtyard, Kagome was nearly knocked over by a direct launch to the chest. "Kagomeeeee!"  
  
"You're gonna kill me one of these days, Shippou-chan," she wheezed, settling the kitsune more comfortably in her arms. "What're you up to?"  
  
"C'mere!" He tugged at her arm, pointing to a cluster of about a dozen children of varying ages a few yards away. Most looked either apprehensive or eager, or some mix thereof. "They knew the other priestess lady, and I told them how nice and fun you are. You have to come say hi for a minute."  
  
"Oh?" Kagome nodded to Sango, who had just finished greeting Kirara and walked back to her side with the tiny cat on her shoulder. "It can't hurt anything, I guess."

* * *

Inuyasha settled himself into his favorite niche and scowled down at the knot of children as Kagome made her way towards them, set Shippou down and evidently began introducing herself. It was a tad too far away for even his ears to catch what she was saying, but her tone was friendly enough, and the kids seemed receptive, crowding closer than was probably respectful to listen. He scowled as one little girl reached out to tug at Kagome's odd "dress," as he remembered her calling it. _Wench needs to learn to keep some boundaries. _  
  
He raised his head and tested the wind, making a mental note not to yell at Sango later: the slayer was watching the forest and had Kirara right there, too, in case any more demons came sniffing out the Jewel's power. _Another thing—need to ask the hag about suppressing that damn thing without screwing me over._ He shuddered at the thought of getting into another fight with the wolf and finding himself unable to repair the castle's damage.  
  
Technically, Inuyasha supposed he should also demand some answers from her about Kikyou and the Jewel _right now_, but hell, she'd kill him if he dragged her away. Kagome was definitely not in the mood to be interrupted: by her tone and movements, she was telling the kids where she lived and about her family, glossing over certain points but elaborating on the more entertaining ones, to judge from the occasional bursts of laughter.  
  
It was a nice scene, and one that was almost too familiar...Kikyou had seemed completely cold, possibly heartless and definitely single-minded in protecting the Jewel, and thus he'd assumed her attitude was all there was till he began to really pay attention and discovered that children were one of the only chinks in the dam holding her emotions back. More than once, Inuyasha had sought her out – only because he was curious, nothing more – to find her the center of a ring of small girls and boys, teaching them about herbs, or telling them stories about demons—cautionary tales to be sure, but stories nonetheless. She had had no trouble smiling around them, either, the only times he'd ever caught her doing so...  
  
A sudden wave of nostalgia gave Inuyasha the strong, unfamiliar urge to smile himself, and he almost chuckled as Kagome crouched to take one little girl's hands, grinning mischievously. _Kikyou didn't look exactly the same, no, but the kids do like 'em both a hell of a lot. I wonder if that's just coincidence...  
_  
Now Kagome was holding her hands up and talking so quietly that he couldn't hear at all; she looked around at her audience, whose faces were wide-eyed and gleeful with expectation, and Inuyasha watched her profile with growing interest. _They're not the same person—but if she's Kikyou's reincarnation, there has to be more ways they're ali—_  
  
Kagome swiftly brought her hands up to her face; an earsplittingly distinct sound ripped through the air, and the children jumped, then shouted with laughter and begged Kagome-sama to do it again at the top of their lungs.  
  
Inuyasha's ears plastered themselves to his skull, and his jaw dropped as Kagome made that sound once more, even louder and more profane. _Did she just...she did! Well, shit, there goes my theory! _There was no way in hell Kikyou would've ever even dreamed of _making_ a fart sound, much less teaching the kids how to do it the way Kagome was now!  
  
"Shit," he muttered aloud, ears twitching uncontrollably as he got up and the sounds from below grew louder. _Gods, doesn't that wench have any dignity?! And their parents are gonna complain like...hmmmm..._ Despite his irritation, Inuyasha had to smirk. _They're gonna be pissed. Excellent! Teach 'em to let my guest babysit their kids like a servant or something.  
_  
The thought of pissing all those fawning, snooty, holier-than-thou idiots off at once cheered him right back up, and even as he jumped when one older boy succeeded louder than his peers, he was able to shrug it off. Hell, it was even a bit funny in a way. Body functions were body functions, but anything that made the servants unhappy...

* * *

Kagome was having so much fun with her new protégés that Sango left Kirara to guard them and brought lunch out from within the castle, leaving Kagome to chat with a few women who did the same for their children. "Thank you so much for taking the trouble of entertaining them, Kagome-sama," one said ruefully, bowing deeply. "I trust they've been well-behaved?"  
  
"Of course. I haven't had any trouble at all." Kagome nodded back, smiling and willing none of the kids to—  
  
"Look what Kagome-sama taught us, Mama! Listen!" One girl no more than six jammed the heels of her hands together, brought them to her mouth, and produced an amazingly potent sound for her size, then grinned proudly. "Isn't it great?"  
  
Kagome could've cheerfully died as the woman's patiently expectant expression stiffened into forced amusement. "Very."  
  
"Ah...yes, I was...er...isn't it lovely out today?" Kagome smiled brightly and almost cried with relief when she caught sight of Sango descending the steps. "Time to eat now. Thanks, keep up the good work, bye!"  
  
"I told you it'd backfire," the slayer said calmly as the women retreated in a small pack, gossiping like mad.  
  
"Don't rub it in," Kagome muttered. It had seemed like a fun idea at the time. _Even though Dad didn't like it much either when Yusaku got me, Ataru and Souta to do it nonstop for a week when we were little...  
_  
The rest of the afternoon passed swiftly in games of Tag and more stories about her life; only the fact that she was now sweaty beyond belief kept her from half-jokingly whining when Sango indicated it was time to go in. "We both need to get cleaned up, Kagome-ch...sama."  
  
"Yeah, we do." Kagome smiled at the murmurs of disappointment. "Now, c'mon, I'll be back out tomorrow."  
  
"We have to go back to helping with the chores starting tomorrow," an older girl complained, eyeing her hopefully.  
  
"Well, we'll see each other sometimes anyway. I'll talk to Inuyasha about what we were discussing earlier, too." She grinned as they squealed and Shippou leapt onto her shoulder. "Yes, I meant it. Now, time to go in for all of us. It's getting dark."  
  
It was pleasantly cool by the time they emerged from the baths and Kagome dressed for dinner, choosing a pair of comfy old black jeans and a nice sweater over a white tank top. "How come you never dress normal anymore, Kagome?" Shippou asked curiously as she pulled the sweater down.  
  
"This is more comfortable. I thought it was just easier to wear kimonos before, but I'll save those for special occasions from now on. 'Sides, these are easier to clean." Kagome tapped his nose very lightly. "Time for dinner. I'll see you later, Shippou-chan."  
  
The fox pouted. "How come I never get to eat with you?"  
  
"Because Inuyasha says so, and you get to eat my breakfast every day anyway, not to mention lunch, of course." She swept him up and poked his sides gently, grinning as he squirmed. "See, if you come up while we're eating, I'm just gonna do this the whole time!"  
  
"That's not fair!" he protested between giggles.  
  
"I know." She planted a kiss on his forehead. "Just humor me, 'kay? I'll be back later tonight."

* * *

"You're spoiling the kid again," Inuyasha said flatly.  
  
"And you're being a macho idiot again. It's called affection, and kids need it, end of story." Kagome knelt in her usual place and wondered why there was no food set out: it was late enough, and she was hungry, darn it. "Why are you still standing up?"  
  
"We're not eating in here." Inuyasha jerked his head at the outer shoji. "C'mon, wench, or we'll miss it."  
  
Kagome perked up. "Really? Are we eating out there again?"  
  
"Not if you don't move your ass," he snapped, opening the shoji.  
  
She clapped her hands and followed him out to the balcony almost right on his heels, ignoring the strange room on the way entirely. They were just in time, as the sun was still a brilliant slit of reddish orange on the horizon. "Get on."  
  
Kagome obediently leaned against his proffered back and held on as he stood up, though now she knew better and hooked her legs around his waist to keep most of her weight off her arms. He paused just a bit as she did, then cautiously looped one hand under each of her knees for support. "Done?"  
  
"Yep. Go for it." _Sheez_. She'd even expected a little embarrassment this time, but it was one thing to know something in theory – i.e. that getting on his back was of course not something she was 100 percent okay with, even after trying it once – but another thing to do it again and notice muscle, warmth, and so on, not to mention his hands—which thankfully were resting on denim and not skin, curved to keep his claws from snagging or biting through the fabric.  
  
Kagome mentally took a deep breath and whacked herself. _This is Inuyasha, you dork, not a guy from school you can drool over. See, there're his ears._ They flicked as she looked up, and instead of reminding her that this was a semi-supernatural, freaky-looking kinda-friend and not someone she need get too involved with, they only made her want to squeal and grab them. _Ah, hell, I have more sense than that anyway. Right? Right. Time to stop yakking with myself now. Right._  
  
For his part, Inuyasha was grateful she couldn't see his face or the goofy look he probably had. _Stupid reflexes. She should've done the leg thing before, but it still surprised me._ Ah, well, anything that kept her from falling off was good.  
  
Whether he wanted to admit it or not, though, he also had to offer a quick prayer of thanks to anyone listening that his hair was so long. He hadn't noticed before, but thanks to the sake episode and the few other times they'd been in very close proximity, his mind now saw fit to inform him that she not only smelled nice, but was warm and soft. Very soft. Possibly even very, very—  
  
_Shut UP, dammit!_ "You ready?"  
  
"Whenever you are." Kagome kept down a yelp as he took off, less smoothly than he'd hoped. Clutching his neck and waist tighter, she craned her neck out and admired the view of the grounds and forest as they leveled off and began the descent, settling on the pavilion with a light thud.  
  
"Thanks. So, why the treat?" Kagome got down with minimal difficulty and stretched, watching the sun set as Inuyasha moved around behind her.  
  
"Couple reasons. First, you owe me one hell of an explanation for whatever happened to make you conk out like that, and why she came out and said hi to me..."  
  
"She did?" Kagome's good mood evaporated, and she whirled around. "Was this at the tree? What did she say? What did she look like?"  
  
"Hey," Inuyasha protested, holding one hand up and waving it irritably. "Calm down. You're missing the sunset."  
  
"Screw the sunset! What did she say?"  
  
"Dammit, wench, she didn't say anything! Just hi, Inuyasha, and that you'd wake up soon. That was all. Quit yelling at me."  
  
Kagome raked a hand through her loose hair, pacing back and forth, heedless of the waning light or how close the edge was. "All right, fine, sorry." _I'm such an idiot! If the tree is where Inuyasha draws the power to do stuff, and she's in the tree now, who knows what she'd be able to do if she wanted?!...No, no, she said she wasn't going to interfere...right? Aaaugh, I thought this crap wasn't a problem anymore!  
_  
Inuyasha gritted his teeth. "Stop that, wench. You're making me nervous."  
  
She ignored him, frowning in thought and scarcely noticing the fact that it was now dark till the flare of a brazier made her yelp and nearly fall off in surprise. "See, I told you to be careful. Whatever crawled up your ass, don't worry about it, okay?" Inuyasha set the light closer so she could see him scowling at her. "I didn't bring you back up here to give you a heart attack. If you wanna talk about something else, just say so."  
  
"I wanna talk about something else," she said instantly, smiling a little in gratitude, and he snorted.  
  
"Fine, then. I also brought you up 'cause I figured you deserved something for the way you taught all those kids that weird noise. Made my day to see their parents' faces."  
  
All thoughts of thanking him for allowing the subject change were instantly converted to indignation. "You ass! You're rewarding me for making their lives more annoying?!"  
  
"...Yeah, pretty much."  
  
"Ass."  
  
"Keh. You've been here long enough to see how we get along." He shrugged. "That was the last thing. You've been here two weeks in your time now, so I figured I'd throw that in too and keep you from whining about it."  
  
"Actually, I'd forgotten all about that. Thank you." _Kagome smiled wider as he grunted and muttered something about having wasted his time. Faker. No way this guy could've ever done what Kikyou s—  
  
NO! I'm not gonna ask about that tonight. If he says we don't have to talk about it, there's no way I'm going to talk about it any more for...I dunno how long!_  
  
"So what're we eating?" she asked, listening to various rustling sounds as he moved about in the shadows on the far side of the little pavilion.  
  
"Some crap I made the kitchen wenches pack up." He returned and plunked a small box down. "Tea's in there somewhere, too."  
  
"Thanks." Kagome smiled up at him again, genuinely touched.  
  
"It's just some food, wench. You don't have to act like it's the best thing in the world." Inuyasha sat down a safe distance away and began shoveling his noodles down.  
  
"It's the thought I appreciate, Inuyasha, and this was really nice of you. Thanks."  
  
Inuyasha kept eating. Kagome would've thought he hadn't heard at all if not for his ears flicking again. _So...damn...cute!  
_  
The stars were out by now, and the moon was also visible, not nearly as bright as it'd been only a week ago. Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha; to her dismay, he was glaring at the sky. _Did he catch me looking at his ears again?  
_  
"So you told the brats you'd ask me something," he growled, red eyes still directed upwards. "Might as well spit it out now that you've sucked up."  
  
All the air went out of her lungs. "You..." Kagome's jaw stiffened the way it hadn't since their more heated arguments had begun to cool down, and her hackles rose. "You think I'd compliment you like that just because I wanted something?!"  
  
"..."  
  
_Bastard! I can't believe I said I trusted him!_ "Answer me! I've been here 14 days now, and you honestly have the nerve to tell me I'm only nice when I'm getting ready to sink my claws in? Is that it?!"  
  
"...No."  
  
"What the hell is wrong w...wh...what did you say?"  
  
"I said no, wench. I don't think so. I was just being an asshole." Inuyasha turned his head long enough to meet her gaze, resentful but not quite as angry as the moments passed.  
  
"Okay, then." Kagome knew an Inuyasha apology when she heard one, and her temper rapidly faded into nothingness. They returned to their meals in silence.  
  
"So what was it you were gonna ask?"  
  
"Hm?" Kagome swallowed some of her rice and looked up. Inuyasha idly noted another non-Kikyou thing: she had a grain or two on her face. He decided to let it slide and see if she figured it out...it wasn't gross or anything. Actually, it was almost cute in a way.  
  
_Cute?! What the fuck?!_ Inuyasha growled to himself and shoved that thought into the deepest pits of his mind. "Spit it out or forget it!"  
  
Kagome scowled, but knew he probably wasn't mad at her, so she'd best let it go. "Miroku said you were out in the forest today, and Sango told me that meant you were just chopping trees down. True?"  
  
"Yeah, what of it?" Inuyasha jammed more noodles into his mouth, silently daring her to even think of criticizing his favorite method of stress relief. He enjoyed practicing with Tetsusaiga, too, but it was no fun after a while without an opponent.  
  
"Can we use the wood?"  
  
"S...wait, what?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "Use it for what?"  
  
"I told them about my little brother's treehouse, and they want to try to build one. Did you need the wood from the trees you cut down today, or can we have it?"  
  
"What the hell's a treehouse?"  
  
"Just what it sounds like. You build a very small hut up in a large tree's branches. Kids in my time love 'em—my little brother has one near the shrine. So can we make one for the kids here?"  
  
"You're wasting your time, wench. They're only gonna be here two more months. Besides, there are demons out there. Anyone in the trees would be too exposed, 'specially kids."  
  
"Miroku said he could write some sutras to keep demons out." Kagome didn't quite feel up to mentioning her own possible abilities yet. "And who cares how long they'll be here? As long as they're happy and they're not hurting anyone, what's the problem?"  
  
"Feh. Fine, then. But it's your responsibility, wench, not mine, so don't expect me to do any stupid babysitting errands, okay?"  
  
"Okay! Thank you!" Kagome felt a vague twinge and recognized it, with mild surprise, as the urge to hug him. _Huh. Ears and sake memories are getting to me._  
  
"Feh." Inuyasha gulped the last of his tea down and stood. "We'd better go in soon."  
  
"Awww, do we have t—OH!" Inuyasha jumped as Kagome gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth.  
  
"What's the matter?!" Inuyasha crouched next to her swiftly. "It's...not...is it?"  
  
"No, no! I just realized I never got to answer you last night! Did you get any sleep?"  
  
Inuyasha stared at her dumbly, then growled in exasperation. "That's all?!"  
  
"Well, sleep is important! And I just now remembered! I'm sorry!"  
  
"Don't be such a moron. You were asleep. And 'sides, I'm half demon, remember? I can go a few days without sleep and I'm still stronger than a human." He glowered at the pavilion's surface. "So you do feel better now, right?"  
  
"Yeah. Thanks." She offered him a tentative smile.  
  
"Good, 'cause if you wander off one more time, I'm gonna make Sango chain the two of you together. I'm sick of tracking you down." She stuck her tongue out, and he grunted and stood. "C'mon, time to go back in."  
  
"Fine." He went back down to a crouch. Kagome gulped, climbed on with minimal awkwardness, got comfortable, and promptly mortified herself by letting out a light belch.  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "Damn, wench, you're noisy today."  
  
"Oh, shut up," she mumbled into his hair as he stood up and shifted his grip. "It's not my fault."  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Here we go."  
  
Despite her embarrassment, Kagome still remembered to sit up and look down at the dark landscape, unconsciously leaning into Inuyasha as the wind whistled and spiked right through her light sweater. "Nice view," she said loudly at the peak of their trajectory, and he only grunted, concentrating on landing lightly and safely back on the balcony.  
  
"Good aim," Kagome said absently, crossing her arms and rubbing them for warmth as they went inside. "Time for bed now."  
  
"Hey, wait a sec, wench," he called as she half-jogged down the hall.  
  
"Oh, right." Kagome came back up. "Shoot."  
  
"So. Will you marry me?"  
  
For the first time, Kagome had to fight the urge to giggle or something similarly stupid. _Weird_. "Nuh-uh. I won't marry you. So there."  
  
Inuyasha yawned hugely, and Kagome watched his fangs gape with placid interest. It was funny, but though she knew, objectively, that he was fairly scary-looking, even his canines had failed to intimidate her at all for a while now. _All bark and no biting makes Inuyasha not scary, I guess.  
  
_"What're you lookin' at?" he muttered, scratching the back of his head carefully.  
  
"Your teeth. They're nifty. Must suck keeping 'em clean, though. G'night." Kagome covered a yawn with one hand and flapped the other one idly as she ambled down the corridor, willing herself to keep going past what she now thought of as The Room and down to where Sango was sitting on her futon.  
  
"What happened two nights ago?" the slayer asked point-blank as soon as Kagome came in.  
  
"When we got drunk?" Fully awake now, Kagome very carefully unearthed Shippou from where he was snoozing under the covers and moved him into her lap for warmth and to make sure he stayed asleep for this part of the conversation. "Well...you're not gonna like this, but..." And she proceeded to tell Sango everything she could remember, especially regarding Miroku's behavior.  
  
Sango said nothing as Kagome spoke, only nodding or wincing from time to time, otherwise impassive. When she finished, Sango folded her hands and looked down at them. It was several minutes before she spoke. "I was the one to...initiate it, and he refused me?"  
  
"Turned you down flat and gave you something to keep you from doing anything else." It was painful just relating the story; for once, she had no idea what to say now. _Can't rub it in, or be too obvious...better just keep my mouth shut.  
_  
"I see." Sango nodded curtly. "Thank you, Kagome-chan. Good night." She slid into her futon, rolled over and curled into a ball.  
  
_Crap_. Well, it was definitely something the slayer would have to work through on her own. Kagome sighed and went about the process of moving Shippou, clothes and bedding around till they were all ready for sleep.  
  
"Kagome-chan."  
  
_Eep_. "Yeah?"  
  
"...Do......never mind."  
  
Kagome pressed her lips together. _Enough of this crap_. "He does love you, Sango-chan. Do me a favor tomorrow and ask him – and tell him I told you so – why it was that he lied about Inuyasha insisting you take care of me."  
  
"...But I..."  
  
Kagome heaved a slightly theatrical sigh. "Just do it, please. And listen to him with an open mind?"  
  
"All right, fine. Good night."  
  
"Good night."  
  
Kagome was almost asleep when she felt Shippou snort and turn over. "Finally," his voice murmured drowsily.

She was too tired to scold him; she could only make a sound of agreement and pull him closer before they both drifted off.

* * *

A/N: Grrrr on my Net connection. Grrrr, I says. Ah, well. Sorry again (though it wasn't my fault) for the delay. Meh. At least I don't have to go into work with a 'Net-frustration-related stormcloud over my head like I did yesterday... XD 


	15. Sheep's Clothing?

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is not mine. Me no own. And a partridge in a pear tree. (Which I also do not own. I just suck that much.)

A/N: Muuuuuchas sorry for the delay, folks. Work is getting more work-like and less like standing around and trying desperately to find something to do all the time; nevertheless, I've used some of that time to come up with a coupla ideas I predict y'all gonna 'jooooy thor'ghly (an e-cookie to anyone who picks up that reference), and if this one runs as long as I think it will, I promise a repeat of the next-in-three-days offer I made last time, minus the 'Net crapping out on me. And if I do, odds are good y'all will reeeeally like the chapter after this. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha...

-ahem- Right. On with ze show...after I give Rezol's sledgehammer back. I didn't have writer's block, so I just used it on comp-hogging roommate instead. So it did come in handy...yeah...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beast 

**Chapter 15**

To Kagome's immense relief, when she woke up the next morning, it was not to talk with a dead priestess or have an out-of-body experience or anything similarly Not Fun: it was because Shippou had draped himself across her neck and was snoring in her ear.

And yet, somehow, she could _still _hear Sango humming off-key from the floor. _Back to normal. Yee-haw._

"G'up, hon," she mumbled, gently lifting the kit off and scooting over to lay him down next to her head, where he scrunched deeper into the warmth and began snoring louder.

_Well, there goes my pillow._ She sat up slowly, scratched her nose where the boy's tail had been tickling, and yawned. Come to think of it, she didn't blame him; it wasn't exactly cold, but her thin comforter, which had sufficed quite well the past few days, was now barely adequate. _Looks like another one of those days for dog-boy. Ah, well. _

Kagome yawned again and rubbed the sleep from one eye, then the other. "Hey, Sango-chan?" No answer; sure enough, Kagome saw that her friend had the Discman on and was absorbed in the music, eyes half closed and humming sporadically—and badly. "Uh...Sango-chan?"

"Nah, I'm full," Shippou mumbled, rolling over against her back.

She sighed, then reached around and plopped the little fox onto her lap, petting his hair absently. "Kudos for sleeping through that, Shippou-chan," she muttered, wincing at one particularly interesting note from the floor. It was almost as bad as being back in her private middle school's choir class; not many of her classmates had had any talent, but the teachers had been paid too much to bring that fact to anyone's attention. _I may not have much of a voice, but I can tell the difference between Hamasaki and a dying barnyard animal, no offense, Sango-chan..._

Almost on cue, Sango glanced around at the bed and turned three shades of pink. "Kagome-chan! Good morning." She punched the Stop button and flipped the headphones onto her shoulders. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, it was him," Kagome said truthfully, hoisting the kitsune and his nest of blanket up so she could slide onto the floor and put him back on her lap. "You're...um...not used to singing, are you?"

"You could tell?" Sango flushed, then smiled ruefully and moved over so Kagome could kneel on the futon with her. "I haven't tried it much before, especially not anything like the music you have..."

"I know. You just need a little practice." Kagome shrugged. "I used to sing constantly when I was really little—drove my brothers and sisters crazy, 'cause I sounded pretty bad most of the time." She cleared her throat and let out a hideous, faintly screechy note, and they both laughed. "But I got better. Like I said, I used to do it all the time, except for the past couple of years. I never really felt like it anymore, and it wasn't worth listening to my sisters complain about it."

"Well, you can sing here as much as you like," Sango said firmly, indicating the room with the wave of a hand. "No harm...as long as you don't sound like you used to, of course."

"No!" Kagome pretended to scowl, then did her impression again, worse this time. Shippou cracked an eye and stared up at her in disbelief, and they laughed harder, shaking their heads till he sighed irritably and curled back up, face buried in his tail.

"Perhaps you can help me with that some time later," Sango said once they had calmed down a bit, rising and motioning for Kagome to stay kneeling. "From the feel of the air, Inuyasha's not in the best of moods, but that's nothing new. We should go see Kaede before he comes to bother you about whatever he thinks is wrong now."

"Sounds about right...and you have to talk to Miroku, remember?" Kagome folded her arms as the slayer's shoulders hunched. "You promised, Sango-chan!"

"I know! I'll do it, too. I'm just..." Sango shook her head and began digging through a chest. "What do you want to wear today?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"About time, child," Kaede said in half-serious chastisement: by the time they dressed, ate breakfast and went outside into the feeble sunlight to meet the old herbalist by the shrine, it was almost noon. "If I had known ye would stay abed so long, I would have slept longer as well."

"Sorry, Kaede," Kagome apologized, glancing up at the heavily overcast sky. It wasn't cold enough for snow, but rain looked entirely possible. _No treehouse stuff today. Nuts._

"No trouble, girls. Come." Kaede turned and began hobbling towards the little building. "Your brother is already there, Sango."

"Is he?" They started after the old woman, and Sango craned her neck around to wave at her little brother, who was staring off at the edge of the forest. Kirara was pacing back and forth in her large form, glaring at the trees. "Is something wrong?"

"Inuyasha has felt the presence of more demons in our boundaries, strong enough to be detected at distance, unlike the lizard ye encountered before, Kagome. Kohaku was out this morning and found several tracks. We also wonder at Kouga-sama's recent absence..."

"You're right, he hasn't been back to see Kagome for a while," Sango mused, patting the front of her kimono absently. She had told Kagome, after the last incident with the wolf lord, that the pouches she'd had ready contained powder capable of disabling even a full demon's sight and smell. "Do you think he's been killed? Surely we would've heard of, or Inuyasha would've felt a demon or demons strong enough to do that."

"I do not know, Sango, but all the more reason for me to see what Kagome is capable of as far as defense goes—and ye need to take your dose for the morning, correct?"

Sango made a face and nodded. "Defense...do you think she has some of the same abilities as...?"

"Not only those, but the power of the Jewel, as ye must know." Kaede stopped at the doors and placed her hand on one. Kagome winced at the flare of light, surprised that Sango didn't even seem to notice it.

_Wait... _"So the Jewel wasn't the only way Kikyou could do stuff?" Come to think of it, the priestess had mentioned doing things without it, but Kagome had never really thought of using the Jewel as being separate from any other set of abilities. It was confusing enough as it is.

Sango also looked puzzled as they came inside and sat down. "So Kagome-chan has _her _spiritual powers, aside from the Jewel?" She paused, wide-eyed. "My. The curse _is _weaker here."

"Indeed. And ye seem unaware of this; perhaps I explained too hastily yesterday, Kagome, but many people, men and women, have spiritual capabilities such as purification of evil beings, heightened senses of demons' presence, and such." They waited for Kaede to settle herself on her cushion inside before stepping in and trying to make themselves comfortable in the cramped, musty space as the herbalist continued. "My elder sister had all these and more; she rarely used the Jewel, if ever, though I believe not. Ye do have the Jewel's power, but I think ye may wish to use your own ability and not the Jewel whenever possible." Kaede nodded and began preparing some odd-smelling liquid from two jugs set next to her cushions.

Kagome could feel a headache coming on. "So...I can do stuff without the Jewel? But Kikyou said—"

"Did she ever tell ye directly that ye must use the Jewel for anything?" Kaede cut in without looking up.

"Y—" Kagome bit off the word and thought about it hard. "Well, she said you couldn't tell me how to listen i—uh, do some weird things around the castle, like teleporting, nothing to do with spiritual stuff..." She coughed. "She said you couldn't tell me that 'cause you never worked with the Jewel."

"She meant only that I lacked the power, and thus had no experience with the technique." Kaede handed Sango a cup of the liquid and smiled at Kagome's utterly blank expression. "Such things as moving instantaneously for short distances may be possible with your own power alone, but it requires near-frightening amounts of strength to accomplish. Many demons possess such strength to some degree – take Kirara's power of flight, for example – but of all the human priests, monks and priestesses I have known in my life, only my sister could have done it without the Jewel's aid. Even demons prefer to use less tiring methods of transport." Kaede took the empty cup from Sango and gave the sour-faced slayer some tea to wash the taste out. "I am surprised she did not caution ye against using the Jewel at all, for surely she knew that tapping its power could be dangerous, even to one as—" She broke off as a violent coughing fit suddenly overcame her.

"Kaede?" Sango hurriedly offered her the rest of the tea, and Kagome bent over the old woman in concern as the coughing grew worse. "Kaede! Are you okay?"

"Nay," Kaede wheezed, single eye shut tightly. "I believe the curse may be stronger here than we thought. The Jewel does not like hearing warnings against its use—"

Kagome caught her as the hacking grew drier and more intense, and she patted her back gently, fuming at the curse more than ever. _Whatever happened to just shutting her up? Good thing Naraku's dead, 'cause if I ever met him, I'd..._

"Ane-ue?" Kohaku's voice outside the shrine brought all three of their heads around, even as Kaede struggled to breathe normally.

Sango got up and pushed the door open. Kohaku had his chain sickle ready and was looking at Kirara again; she was growling, hackles raised and eyes fixed on the trees. "I don't think it's close, but she definitely smelled something."

"Right." With a last look at Kaede and Kagome, who nodded reassurance, Sango jogged over to the fire-cat and placed one hand on her back, scanning the treeline. "Where's Miroku, Kohaku?"

"He went out to investigate this morning, I think. He's been going out and checking the forest every day since we all woke up." Kohaku came up behind his sister and frowned. "I hope he's all right."

"Of course he is," Sango snapped, and even Kirara glanced around at her in surprise before returning to the forest. "Kirara, can you go find him? I'll stay here and guard Kagome-chan."

"Wait!" A sudden impulse made Kagome jump to her feet; she paused long enough to accept the old woman's nod of thanks and wave away, then ran out to join them. "Can we go with her? I have a feeling it's not anything that wants to hurt us."

"You _what_?" Sango frowned at her. "Do you know what Inuyasha would say if I took you out there based on a feeling you have? Not to mention how I'd feel if you got hurt?"

"Oh, c'mon. You, Kohaku, Miroku and Kirara will all be there. Besides, I _really _think it's okay, and I'm always right about this kind of stuff, remember?" Logically, Kagome did agree with Sango, but her curiosity was getting the best of her.

"And you say this is just a feeling?" Sango crossed her arms, tapping her fingers restlessly. "I don't like it, Kagome-chan..."

"I know, but I'm telling you, it's okay. Actually..." Kagome trailed off and frowned as a kind of mental twinge made her look to their right. "They're over there. ...Three of them...and I think one's Kouga."

Kohaku and his sister exchanged dubious looks. "If she has those kind of senses, maybe we should trust her," the boy said timidly. "It's worth a look from above, at least, right?"

"I still don't—"

"All of ye, go and investigate." Kaede's thin, tired voice right behind them made the four all jump. "If Kagome is correct, ye know to trust her in the future. If not, come back here and regroup. 'Tis simple enough."

"Fine." Sango patted Kirara's ruff and sprang onto her back, helping Kagome sit behind her and Kohaku in front. "Hold tight to me, Kagome-chan. Just look for the houshi-sama, Kirara, please."

The cat rumbled assent and sprang into the air, clearing the treetops in two bounds and leaning to the right. "I don't suppose you know where Miroku is as well?" Sango said dryly over her shoulder, scanning the treetops.

Before Kagome could reply, Kirara suddenly mewed, dipped and dove into a gap in the canopy, settling down with a thump not ten feet away from where the monk was crouching next to a tree.

"Gods!" Miroku whirled around, staff tucked under his arm and left arm ready to unwrap the beads from his right hand. "Sango-sama! What are you three doing here?"

"Kagome insisted," she replied darkly, holding up a hand when Kagome began to dismount. "She thinks the demons may be with Kouga."

"Oh? Well, that wouldn't be unreasonable, Sango-sama. Kagome-sama could very possibly have already developed the n—"

"There he is," Kagome said abruptly, pointing to their left. The other three humans barely had time to turn and come to stand in front of her before a blur of brown erupted from the trees and skidded to a halt.

"There she is!" Kouga clasped Kagome's hands briefly, then grinned at her exasperated look and dropped them. "What brings you out here, Kagome?"

"We're just checking things out, not much." Kagome felt that twinge again and peered around Kouga. "Is that...?"

Sango and Miroku swiftly came up in front of her, but Kouga only shrugged and sauntered away a few steps. "C'mere and meet Kagome, you guys, and don't keep us waiting."

"Sorry, Kouga," a man's voice wheezed from a good distance away. Everyone except Kouga and Kagome tensed as the sounds of leaves and twigs crackling grew louder, and Miroku loosened the beads as the speaker's voice came again, much closer. "We can't move as fast as you, y'know."

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry it up." Kouga raised an eyebrow at Kagome and smirked.

"We're coming," another male voice complained, and Kirara began growling as two grey forms became visible through the trees.

Kouga crossed his arms. "You have three seconds. Onetwoth—"

In one leap, the strangers came up to a gap between the two nearest trees, jammed for a second, and then shoved their way through, nearly falling on their faces. "Here! We're here, Kouga! See?"

Kouga looked down at them, expressionless. "You..." He looked around at the humans, who were all gaping at the two panting, doubled-over newcomers. "You _morons_! You forgot to...!" He slapped his head with one hand and began laughing. "Oh, _man_!"

Kagome could understand why Miroku, Sango and Kohaku were so confused: the 'demons' resembled nothing more than two aging, out-of-shape humans—and they were dressed in modern business suits, ties askew, shirts rumpled and sweat-stained. The one on the left had wire-rimmed glasses and almost no hair left save for a strip down the middle of his scalp; the other was thinner but, as if to compensate, wore hugely ridiculous bifocals and had wildly bushy hair in all directions. It was almost as if someone with an odd sense of humor had brought two perfect stereotypes of "goofy middle-aged businessman" to life and then forced them to run around the woods for a few hours.

But...Kagome squinted at them harder. "You guys...you're not human, are you?"

"No, they are not," Miroku said flatly, also squinting. He brought his staff up to the ready. "The illusion is commendable, but you can remove your disguises."

"Thank the gods," the bushy-haired one said fervently, and jabbed his thumb against the side of his neck. Instantly the business clothes, glasses and sweat all vanished to reveal a much leaner and younger-looking wolf demon with white-and-black hair, dressed like Kouga but with a less commanding air. He stretched, yawned – revealing a full set of fangs – and flexed his claws, cracking his knuckles appreciatively. "Maaaan, this is better!"

"Good idea." The other also jabbed his neck hard and became another wolf demon with a long white mohawk, also much younger in appearance. "So, Kouga, this is Kagome?"

Kouga nodded and swiftly whacked the other wolf demon upside the head. "Kagome-_sama _to you, till she's out of here and we've made it official."

"Nothing's going to be official," Kagome said automatically, mouth working independently as her brain took in the transformation. How had they done that?

Kouga chuckled and gestured at the other wolves. "This is Ginta and Hakaku, two members of my old pack. They say it's a little scattered since we were last together, but they know where almost everyone is."

"Pleased to meet you, Kagome-sama," they said as one, with Ginta – or was that Hakaku? – rubbing his head sheepishly.

"You live in this era, in disguise?" Sango said slowly, frowning. "So humans really are dominant now, as Kagome-chan said?"

"Yes indeed," Ginta replied, glancing to Kouga and continuing at his nod. "It wasn't too long after we lost Kouga that they started to overrun us. Even our mountains were threatened after a few centuries, till we struck a bargain with a human mystic and learned how to disguise ourselves. Then we just went human, pretended we drove the wolves out, and turned ourselves into a remote village."

"A lot of other demons tried to kill all the humans, but more humans equaled more monks and priestesses, so that wasn't much of an option, either," Hakaku said sadly. "We thought we had a solution for a while, but humans don't even taste very good."

Ginta nodded forlorn agreement. "Pretty soon, we had to be human most of the time, and then it got so hard to find food that we agreed to split up till Kouga woke up and we could reestablish our pack."

"And that's where you come in, Kagome." Kouga held a hand out to Hakaku, who scrabbled at the front of his armor and dug out a tiny box.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Kagome muttered in complete disbelief as Kouga took it and opened it, examining the contents critically. Miroku and Kohaku looked askance at her, but Sango took one look at her friend's face and put a hand to her forehead: Kagome had mentioned the significance of rings to her.

"Uh..." Ginta scratched his head. "Maybe you should hold off till the castle's gone, Kouga. You did say it's gonna disappear, right?"

"Oh, right." To Kagome's almost overwhelming relief, Kouga tucked the box away and leaned closer. "This is pretty important, so I'd better ask you now...d'you know which humans have the legal rights for the land we're on?"

"Legal rights?" she repeated, warning bells going off like sirens in the back of her mind.

"Yeah," Ginta said eagerly. "We thought we knew who owned it, but we couldn't track him down. D'you know the Higurashi family, by any chance?"

"Why, yes, that's Kagome-sama's f—" Miroku's eyes popped as Kagome sidestepped and ground her heel into his instep.

But it was too late. "You mean, your father is Higurashi Yoshio?" Kagome sighed and nodded.

"YES!" Ginta grabbed Hakaku in a headlock and swung him around in an excess of joy. "I told you they were nearby! We just couldn't find 'em thanks to the damned curse protecting the castle and the woods!"

"Then how'd _they _get here and settle down in the first place?" Hakaku complained, but his friend paid no attention.

"So, if we wanna have this land as a base to gather the pack again...well, I'll be damned. This must have been fate—it all works out perfectly." Kouga bowed to Kagome, all grace and self-assurance now.

_Oh. Shit. _"No, actually, it doesn't." Kagome shook her head rapidly. "First off, he'll probably sell it to someone before he dies or anything, and even if he doesn't, it won't be mine. I have older brothers and sisters."

"We checked his will, and you're the first one in line for everything," Hakaku piped up. "Title goes to Higurashi Kagome. And if your siblings take it to court, we'd back you all the way."

"You checked his _will?_" Suspicion arose. "Wait a minute...what do you two do for a living, exactly?"

"Me?" Ginta blinked. "I'm a biologist. Hakaku's a journalist."

"...Are you guys married, by any chance?"

The three wolves traded uneasy looks at her tone and her sudden scent change: this wasn't leading anywhere good. "Yes, in fact, we're—"

"Brothers-in-law?" Kagome's brain made a few more connections, and humans and demons alike winced as her voice rose. "And your fathers-in-law are my dad's partners? And the ones who screwed us out of our _lives_?!"

"Whoa!" Kouga held up his hands. "Calm down! They might be kinda stupid, but these guys wouldn't do anything like that to you!"

"That's right, Kagome-sama," Ginta said earnestly. "We didn't know what they were doing till it was too late, and then we couldn't buy the land from him because we only had his cell number, and he never returned our calls till my wife's dad called him about the new study."

"And we didn't know that he hadn't passed all the information on, or that he made him spend so much and waste his time," Hakaku agreed quickly. "We'd been looking to buy the land for years, but the owners always had heard of the curse and either wouldn't sell or denied even owning it. And ever since your father acquired it, we've been trying to find a way to get a hold of it quietly, without our human families asking where we got the money or why we want it so much."

"If you live so long, how do you explain that to your family?" Kagome asked sulkily, not pacified, but curious.

"We die in accidents a lot," Hakaku explained cheerfully.

"Yeah, we've each had five or six human wives," Ginta added. "We don't have children, and when we reach the right age, away we go."

"Do all demons exist as you do?" Miroku asked, startling Kagome badly—she'd forgotten about the others for a moment.

"Some do. The ones that didn't get themselves killed for trying to exterminate the humans either coexist like us or have moved to more remote places." Hakaku shrugged. "We'd never leave Japan, though, 'specially with Kouga here and with a new mate."

"Well, I'm sorry to ruin your plans, but I'm not his mate," Kagome said flatly, scowling and speaking over their protests. "Like I said, I don't want to marry him _or _Inuyasha. If you're so sorry about what happened to my family, I can always get Dad to sell it to you for what it's worth, which is _a lot _in this case..."

"True," Kouga said casually. "But keep in mind that we don't have to buy it right off. When the castle's gone, your dad'll still have it, but what can he do with it? And who else could you sell it to for any price with all that stuff about squirrels getting in the way?"

Kagome's mind raced for a minute and came up with nothing but a stitch in its side. "...What's your point?"

"Point is, I really hate to break it to you, but we're your only option. And before you think I'm tryin' to blackmail you, I also have to say Ginta and Hakaku here don't have that much money. They could if they were any other kinda demon, but we don't steal from our families, even fake human ones." The other two wolves nodded vigorously. "Even if we buy it and you just go back to your dad, we could only give him enough to make you comfortable for a while, not enough to move that huge pack of yours into the city."

"And especially not enough to attract another mate for any of you with the way your sisters behave—with all due respect, Kagome-sama," Ginta added.

"Of course," Kagome said sardonically, nodding with satisfaction when Kouga gave him another whack.

It was true, of course. _Not like I could abandon everyone even if I did get married—and who'd agree to take us _all _in? _"So you're saying...?"

"If you become one of us, your family becomes part of our pack, too," Hakaku explained. "And our human fathers would have to help us look after all of you. We could always wait to inherit their money, but we're supposed to be in our fifties, almost as old as them, and we're almost due to die now."

"So you need it soon." They nodded, and Kagome mentally ran through her list of favorite swears. "D'you realize how sudden this is? Three weeks ago, my biggest worry was getting the shopping done before it was time to go home and do the laundry."

"Of course. You don't have to do anything till the curse runs out," Kouga said generously. "Just hang around here, and as soon as dog-turd loses it, away we go."

"You don't have to be so callous about it," Kagome snapped before she could stop herself. Kouga raised his eyebrows, then shrugged, and she fought the urge to start growling like Kirara.

"What if you just killed Inuyasha, Kouga?" Ginta suggested, and Kagome's nails dug into her palms.

"Thought about it, but it might screw things up even worse," Kouga said dismissively. "Not a good idea to mess with the curse, y'know. We can wait a little longer, right?"

_And the fact that Inuyasha has Tetsusaiga now has nothing to do with it, I'm sure. _The thought that Kouga was scared of him made her feel better, calm enough to speak rationally. "In that case, you guys had better go wait for Kouga somewhere else. Inuyasha's already noticed you here."

Kouga snorted. "They've been here two days now. If he just now sensed 'em, he's even dumber than I thought. Don't worry about us, Kagome."

_Who said it was you I was worried about?! _"That's not what I m—"

"What the hell is going on here?!"

Kouga held up a hand to forestall the wolves as they glared at Inuyasha, who had materialized next to Kirara a second ago. "Nice timing, dog-turd."

"Go to hell. And take your cronies with you." Inuyasha loosened Tetsusaiga in its sheath and turned on Kagome. "And you! What're you doing out here, talking to these losers? I told you to quit running around on your own!"

"Do _they _look like I'm on my own?" she snapped back, pointing to the monk, two slayers and fire-cat behind Inuyasha. "And don't take it out on them, either! I'm not in any danger! We were just talking, so relax!"

"Relax?! When I warn everyone about demons running around in the forest and you come out here and start making small talk anyway?! How the hell is that supposed to make me relax?!"

"You know what, Inuyasha? I'm _not _in the mood for this now! I'll talk to you later, Kouga! And it was nice meeting you two!" Kagome turned on her heel, stalked over to the fire-cat and threw one leg over Kirara's back. "Take me back to the castle, please, Kirar—"

"Hey!" Inuyasha leaned over to grab her arm, caught a look that would've frozen a gasoline fire, and backed off hurriedly. "...Fine, wench, we'll talk about it tonight." He caught everyone else watching them and bared his fangs. "All of you, clear out, dammit. And you wolves stay the hell off my land!"

Kouga snorted and waved lazily at Ginta and Hakaku. "If your curse doesn't keep demons out once it's reawakened, you can't keep my pack away, dog-turd. And it's not gonna be _your _land much longer, either, so enjoy it while you can."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"Shut up, Kouga," Kagome snarled, and the wolf demon twitched. "Sango-chan, Kohaku-kun, and Miroku-sama, get on _now._"

Inuyasha's ears flattened. "What crawled up your kimono today, wench?"

Kagome turned the Look on him full force. "I'm wearing pants, you idiot! If you're gonna insult me, at least do it right! And for your information, I _was _defending you! See if I ever do it again! Now let's _go_!"

"Indeed," Miroku said dryly, settling himself on Kirara's haunches, leaving Kohaku to gulp and climb on right behind Kagome. Sango gingerly climbed onto the cat's shoulders, avoiding eye contact with her seething friend. For his part, Inuyasha had retreated back into the trees so rapidly that even Kouga looked surprised.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaede was still too weak to begin training as they'd planned, so Kagome led her friends inside and gratefully accepted Miroku's suggestion that they work off some of her anger in a card game.

"You mustn't let them make you so angry, Kagome-sama," he said suddenly, after about ten minutes of silence broken only by the thudding of hands on tatami when a double came up—usually with Kagome's hand on the bottom, sped up by rage channeled into concentration. "Kouga will see your point soon enough, and Inuyasha—"

"Is an idiot."

"Well, yes, but—"

"If I were anyone else, I'd accept Kouga's offer just to spite him!" Kagome threw her next card down. "It'd be better for my family than just sitting here and then going back to the shrine when...once...aaargh!" She slapped the deck. "...Damn. I thought that was a 6." Kagome picked a card from her hand and slipped it under the deck. "I hate it when the numbers look alike."

"Yes, what looks like an opportunity may in fact be a very poor idea," Miroku murmured.

Kagome's eye twitched. "Yeah, well, rubbing my face in it isn't helping."

Kohaku said nothing, only watching them play once he ran out of cards. Shippou, who had been restricted to the castle with the other children that morning, came in from outside and headed for Kagome's lap, then thought better of it. "Kagome? What's wrong?"

"Inuyasha's a moron and I don't know why I bother," she snapped, then kicked herself as he cowered. "No, no, I'm not mad at you, Shippou-chan." Kagome set her cards down and stood up. "Let's take a walk, and I'll explain what happened. Want to come, Kohaku-kun?"

The boy started to shake his head, then thought better of it at Kagome urgent expression and stood as well. "My pleasure, Kagome-sama. Ane-ue, you and the houshi-sama should finish."

Sango's lips pressed into a thin line, but she nodded slowly and picked up Kagome's deck. "Fine. I'll join you outside once we've finished here."

Once Kagome was outside, however, she realized her tactical blunder: with the boys accompanying her, she couldn't stop and exercise some of her newfound abilities. _Crap! Crap, crap, crap! I'll have to find out what happened later! Maaaaan..._

To both her relief and annoyance, though, once she'd finished filling Shippou in with some help from Kohaku and headed back to the room, the card game was still going, and by their intent expressions, neither Miroku nor Sango had done much but play in the interval. "Wow, not done yet?"

"No, Kagome-chan...sama," they answered together, Miroku a beat behind, and continued.

The room grew warmer as they stopped for lunch and played into the afternoon, and not just from body heat, it seemed. "I think Inuyasha's finally cheering up," Kagome noted as Sango excused herself to get some torches.

"Maybe," Miroku said, stretching both hands and careful not to disturb his right. "One hopes so. Didn't you want to begin collecting wood for your project tomorrow?"

"Yeah, so I hope it stays dry outside." Kagome linked her fingers and pushed them out, wincing in relief as the joints popped. "You'll still give us some sutras in case any more demons show up, right?"

"Actually, Kagome-sama, with the wolves nearby, most of the lesser demons nearby will likely choose to go elsewhere. I suspect their appetites are what have kept the wolves from becoming wealthy in this age, and any free meals would be more welcome." Miroku rubbed his neck wearily. "I will provide a few just in case, though."

"Thanks." Kagome watched him discreetly for a few seconds: he really was quite good-looking... _Good thing he's more like the perverted big brother I...well, already have...or Sango and I would be having some serious conflicts. Now, Inuyasha, on the other hand............idiot!_

"It's almost time for dinner, Kagome-chan," Sango said from the door, and Kagome grunted acknowledgment, getting up slowly.

After a cursory bath and a change into her favorite green skirt and white blouse, Kagome headed up to Inuyasha's room and opened the shoji with irritation still weighing heavy on her mind. _If he gives me any crap, I swear..._

"Hurry it up, wench. I'm starving."

_So far so...normal. _"Fine." She sank onto her cushion and picked up her chopsticks and bowl.

Inuyasha eyed her skirt in disbelief but elected not to say anything...till she was busy chewing her first mouthful of rice. "Why do you even bother putting anything on in the first place if you're going to run about almost naked?"

"Because, _Dad_, this is comfortable, and if you don't like having to look at my legs, just keep your eyes to yourself. And this isn't that bad, I'll have you know. Lots of girls now wear shorter things than this."

"Feh." Inuyasha returned to his food, and she did the same, warily.

"So." Her head jerked up at his single word. Inuyasha was not looking up, and she waited, motionless. "Have fun today?"

Kagome willed herself not to snap the chopsticks in half and plastered on a smile. "Oh, yeah. I just _love _being hit on by guys who have no clue when to stop and meeting people who..." She shoved more rice into her mouth before she let the rest of that slip: no telling what Inuyasha might do if he knew Ginta and Hakaku had been somewhat responsible for her family moving and, consequently, her part in the curse now.

"Who...?" Inuyasha prompted, and she swallowed so hard she almost choked. _Ye gods, he sounds bored! Is he doing that thing again...?_

"Uh..." Damn, her mind wasn't working. "Never mind. Playing cards was kinda fun, though. So I guess it wasn't too bad overall."

"Right." Inuyasha sipped his tea and frowned at her. "What was that about the land? I was only listening for a second at the end."

"You don't want to know, trust me." Kagome tapped her chopsticks on the bowl, cursing silently and wondering just how much was safe to tell him, as he was definitely not going to let it go. "...Well, he wants this land for his pack. But my dad owns it and they don't have enough to buy him out, so don't worry about it." She held her breath and looked up: white lie and all, was that enough to keep him from going berserk?

Inuyasha was very still. "Not enough to buy it? I thought you were desperate for money."

Kagome stuck her tongue out. "We are, thanks for your tact. But if I were to go back and tell Dad not to sell it to the wolves because that'd mean more demons moving in and probably hitting on me nonstop, he'd listen. I could always ask Kouga to wait a few more years and try again without him knowing if I were to, say, have Dad put a clause in his will turning the land into a wildlife preserve or a national park." That was a new idea, and a downright appealing one. She rather liked it, actually. ..._Oh, yeah, and Kouga would have to move on. Sucks for him, but otherwise, everyone wins!_

Inuyasha didn't seem to agree. "...Meaning...?"

She scowled. "It _means _that the government would own the land and no one could live, build or otherwise mess around here, end of story. It's the best I could do."

Inuyasha's scowl deepened even further, and she fumed. _Dammit, does he even have any idea how nice I'm trying to be?! I mean it, t—_

"You'd do that?"

"Huh?" Kagome blinked and looked up at him. He was toying with his miso, but his ears were slightly drooping and his voice had been so quiet that she'd barely heard it.

"What about your family? They wouldn't like it if you gave up the money and kept this land untouched just so the wolves wouldn't get it, would they?" He stirred listlessly, still speaking more softly than she thought she'd ever heard.

"Well...the government might help us because we donated the land," Kagome pointed out. "And it's not like I like the idea of Kouga profiting off the curse, or of us getting a lot of money because of it. Now that I think of it, I'd rather still be poor."

"...Thanks."

Kagome dropped her chopsticks. "Uh..." She gaped at him for a second. "Y..."

Inuyasha kept stirring, glanced up, and scowled. "Yeah, what?"

"Uh...well...you're welcome. And I mean it." She ducked her head to look for her chopsticks, clumsily picking one up. Her heart almost stopped when a clawed hand delicately lifted the other and held it up for her to take. _Dammit. What's wrong with me? He says thanks and picks something up, and I go Idiot Babbling Shoujo Heroine?! _"Thanks." Kagome carefully took it back and repositioned the sticks in her hand, not daring to look at him. _Why oh why didn't he just eat me? That would've been so much less awkward..._

Inuyasha grunted and went back to playing with his food. All his senses were concentrated on deciding whether she was lying or not, and everything indicated that she really meant it. _Must be some catch somewhere...maybe she's just trying to keep me from going berserk or something?_

But what she did she have to gain from that? Gods knew the wench could hold her own in an argument and wasn't the type to always keep her mouth shut to avoid more... _Dammit. Maybe I should've really eaten her and spared myself all this crap._

A few minutes later, it became evident that neither of them was going to finish their food. "I'm about ready for bed," Kagome said quietly, risking a glance up at him and returning to her food, poking the half-full rice around. "Are you almost finished?"

"Yeah, yeah." Inuyasha gulped down the rest of his tea and stood, waiting for her to do the same. "So, wench. Will you marry me?"

Kagome shook her head slowly. "No, I won't. I'm not marrying anyone."

"Good." Inuyasha's eye twitched. "I mean, right. And good—that you won't. Me, I mean....Right. G'night."

Kagome stared at the shoji as he nodded awkwardly and retreated as fast as humanly (half-humanly?) possible. _Huh. Weird... _Was he embarrassed...? _Huh. Weird. This calls for some girl talk..._

She was so lost in thought that she almost bumped straight into Miroku as they approached her room from opposite directions. "Oh! Pardon me, please, Kagome-sama," the monk said with obvious surprise and what sounded a bit like disappointment. "You're down rather early this evening."

"Am I?...Yeah, we really weren't that hungry, so I left a lot earlier than usual." Kagome studied him intently. "Why, did I interrupt any plans?"

"Oh...no, no, of course not." Miroku smiled brightly and waved at her in dismissal. "I really must be going now, Kagome-s—"

"Uh-uh! Wait right there!" Kagome called sternly as he took off down the corridor.

The monk's shoulders jerked, and he stopped long enough to look over his shoulder. "...Yes?"

"Uh..." _"Come back and do something with Sango" doesn't have the right ring to it...! _"Uh...you know, tomorrow night, I think I can make sure I stay at dinner a while longer. Would you be able to drop by if I did?"

Miroku frowned slightly. "By Inuyasha's room? For what purpose, Kagome-sama?"

Kagome smirked. "Not _his _room. I'm not the one you need to talk to alone, am I?" Miroku gulped, and she grinned. "I thought so. Look, she needs to talk to you, too, so I promise I'll hang around Inuyasha longer tomorrow night."

"Oh, you needn't give us that much consideration, Kagome-sama..." It was Miroku's turn to look suggestive. "Though if you would also benefit from your extra time...eating, I would have no objections."

"You...!" Kagome crossed her arms. "I'm offering _entirely _for you guys, I'll have you know. I hope you appreciate it!"

"Oh, of course, Kagome-sama, of course," the monk said gaily, turning and bowing deeply. "I accept your selfless offer with utmost gratitude."

"Good. You're welcome..." Some inner demon prodded her into coughing and dropping her voice. "You're not going to make me stay up at dinner the whole night, are you?"

Her mock severity had the opposite effect: Miroku's face darkened, and he shook his head with a sad little smile. "No, Kagome-sama, I wouldn't do that to you." He shifted his staff and flexed his hand slowly. "And please understand that I would certainly not do that to Sango-sama. You do understand, correct?"

"I think you'd better ask _her _about it before you make any decisions like that," Kagome said coolly. "Remember your own lecture about an opportunity being a poor idea? Sometimes that works both ways."

Miroku's eyes widened slightly, but then he shook his head. Kagome growled and tapped her foot irritably. "Look, just think about it, okay? And ask her what _she _thinks before we have to trade more of these double entendres." _Not to mention that I'm going to go ballistic and superglue them together if they don't get a clue very, very soon. Man, I wish I had some way of getting to the store..._

There seemed to be some kind of idea lurking in the back of her mind about that, but she was too preoccupied with Inuyasha's weirdness and the frustration of matchmaking with two people as romantically dense as her friends to pursue it. _Screw it. I'll think about it tomorrow as soon as we start getting all that wood together. Gonna need some tools..._

Thankfully, Sango was in no mood to talk, and after a brief exchange of "Good night" and blowing the lights out, they each settled down to bed with their own thoughts. Shippou, who had heard the entire conversation outside the room in addition to the one from last night, began making a few plans of his own for tomorrow and fell asleep mid-scheme.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Okay, this one was running too long to include more days like I'd planned (trust me on this one); I have not only today (more like this evening by now) off, but tomorrow as well, so I swear by whatever you want that I shall have another chapter up by tomorrow night. How, you ask? Well, I know _exactly _what I want, have no obligations to get in the way, and I lose my 'Net connection on the 12th and don't get another one till I come home on the 18th or 19th...so another long delay is in the cards, which I fully intend to make up for in advance with a looooong chapter that I think you'll enjoy. Mwa ha ha ha ha. (It was going to be in this one, but it ran way too long, even for me. You'll see what I mean very soon. Mwa.) See y'all soon, and sorry again for the delay. Stupid work...

(P.S. I can still check my e-mail for a few days and type on this comp once my paid dial-up expires; I must say, y'all's reviews make me very very very happy, and happy = more writing. Just a thought. Mwa ha ha ha ha.... Not that I'd hold out for reviews. I'm not that desperate, not to worry. I've just had a bad week, and rereading my revs made me feel much better. Thought I'd randomly pass that on before I ask Sis to update for me 'cause my dial-up can't handle the upload of a 455KB file. X''D)


	16. One Week Part One

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any other trademarked properties I might mention here, and I'm not making any money off them, so suing is a waste of time. Remember that, kids.

A/N: Here I am, bustin' Teh Lack of Sleep out to get this chapter out to y'all soon. Hope ye likes it, cause it's all ye be gettin' fer a coupla weeks. (Ha! Take that, SpellCheck!) If you're wondering whether you're on the right chapter, make sure you read yesterday's update first: I'm doing another two-fer, and you don't want to read on without having seen 15 or you'll be very confused. Brain hurty is bad, take it from me.

Speaking of which, Wingsong, thanks for the compliments, and for pointing that out—but I paid very careful attention to who said her name when, and you'll notice that Miroku was partly wrong: it didn't matter when Kagome said it—Inuyasha was the one who needed to watch out, and as soon as he slipped, out she came. 'Twas no typo, just a couple of arbitrary rules I set down...because, well, Miroku can't always be right, can he? ; ) Now, on with the story, and what I promise for real and for sure is the first set of day-skipping...(warning: watch for lots of angst, but the other extreme, too...;D)

Oh! A nod to my bf, with whom I had a convo on AIM last night much, much like this chapter and the next (you'll see what I mean). Mwa ha ha. Love y'all!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beast 

**Chapter 16**

Shippou woke them both at dawn the next morning by virtue of a loud, piercing whine of "C'moooon, getupnowsowecangooooooout!"

"Since you asked so nicely," Kagome grumbled, rubbing her eyes and throwing the comforter off. The room was markedly warmer than it had been the previous morning.

"Indeed." Sango yawned and glared at the kit in the room's dimness. "What d'you want outside so early for?"

"The treehouse! We're supposed to go out and get stuff for it today!" Shippou pranced around, nearly stumbling over Kagome's legs and continuing unabashed once he righted himself.

"Fine, just gimme one..." Kagome yawned. "Few more hours of sleep." She laid back down, more awake but feigning sleep and grinning at the kit's whining protests.

Luckily, the kitchen servants had heard of their plans – to some degree, as many of them had children who were going as well – and were already up and preparing food when they came by. "Take care, please, Kagome-sama," one older woman said kindly, bowing and holding a large box out for Sango to take. "I do hope you enjoy yourselves today, but please don't overdo it."

"We'll be fine, thank you," Kagome said politely, bowing back and following Sango out to where several children were standing around and yawning near the great doors. _Good to know they didn't hold the farting against me..._

Once Kirara was located (curled up on one of the only patches of roof that the sun's rays had been soaking all day), they were off, with about six older boys and two girls strong enough to be of some use, and almost a dozen more who were simply curious and along for the trip. Kagome heartily wished for some flashlights as the little procession tromped through the woods, giggling, whispering, rustling, crackling, and generally making enough noise to be heard in Tokyo, she was sure, despite their stern instructions to be as quiet as possible.

"Good thing most of the nocturnal demons have already hunted and the daylight ones are still asleep," Sango whispered in her ear, and they both sighed as one little girl jumped in a pile of leaves, shrieking, and was hushed loudly a moment later by her friends.

"It's not far, is it?" Kagome whispered back, turning long enough to signal silence once more to the children.

"No, we're almost there...as long as we can get them moving again." Sango indicated a cluster of girls crouched around a few flowers at the end of the line, and Kagome seriously considered tearing some hair out before she regained enough control not to yell.

The sun was nearly all the way over the horizon by the time everyone was herded into the area where Inuyasha had spent most of his frustration a few days ago, and Kagome stopped to gape along with the children: trees lay about everywhere, ripped up at the roots or torn clean in half. "He's really strong," one boy whispered, looking at one quartered specimen in awe.

"He scares me," a smaller girl whimpered, tugging Kagome's sleeve for reassurance. "Will you keep him out, Kagome-sama?"

"Now, c'mon. He's not much fun, and he looks mean, but he's not so bad at all. He can even be pretty nice," Kagome said lightly, looking away from the destruction to smile at the girl. "He's like a dog with big teeth that never bites. There's nothing to be scared of."

The younger children shrieked with laughter and the older smiled incredulously at hearing their lord referred to in such an openly casual manner; seeing them whisper to each other, Kagome belatedly hoped their long-ingrained manners would keep her words from reaching Inuyasha's sensitive ears. _As long as he's not listening in right now, of course..._

The remark was soon forgotten, though, as Sango took charge and set the children to work clearing away the smaller branches to be set aside for firewood so Kirara could begin rolling the trunks into position for the men of the castle to haul them away that afternoon. "What exactly do the men do all day, anyway?" Kagome asked curiously as they sat on a smaller trunk and directed. Shippou was dozing in her lap now that his first energy had worn off.

"They collect wood, fish, tend to the grounds," Sango answered absently, watching their charges chase each other and engage in mock duels with appropriately shaped pieces of wood. "Inuyasha's mother was much more likely to take in human women than men as servants. I'll give you more detail on the computer later."

"'Kay...whoa, whoa, that's enough!" Kagome handed Shippou to Sango, jumped up, pulled her shorts down reflexively and plucked a stick from one overly enthusiastic little boy's hands. "Why don't you go help them over..." That mental twinge from yesterday plucked at her from behind, and she turned and scowled. "...there."

"Good morning, dearest Kagome." Kouga hopped to a stop and bowed, twitching an eyebrow at the children, who stopped to gape at him. "What're the pups out here for?"

"We wanted to bring the wood back to the castle," she explained, turning to smile and wave at the children to continue. They did so, glancing occasionally over at them and whispering more than ever.

"Just the two of you and them?" Kouga scowled at Kirara, who stopped to favor him with a glare before returning to her work and ignoring him as only a feline can. "Y'know, dog-turd is the one who did it. He should clean up after himself." Suddenly his expression brightened. "I know! I'll do it for you! Where did you want this? Just back at the castle somewhere?"

"Uh..." Her first instinct was to turn him down, but he seemed genuinely eager to help, and it wasn't as if they couldn't use his strength. _And Inuyasha's already said he won't, the lazy jerk...so why not? _"Sure, Kouga, that'd be great. Just put them where they chop up firewood, and the servants can cut it into planks."

"Really?" Kouga grinned and reached over to heft a massive trunk in one hand, lifting it above his head like a stick as the children gasped and backed off hurriedly. "I can do that."

"Be careful not to hurt yourself," Kagome cautioned, wincing as he adjusted it with his other hand. That tree had have been taller than the shrine!

Kouga threw back his head and laughed loud enough to startle some birds out of the nearest intact trees. "Hurt myself? _Me_? Kagome, you're too much," he said affectionately, turning to pick up another trunk. "Watch it there..." A boy who'd ventured close squeaked and scurried back to his friends as Kouga easily lifted another tree in his other hand.

"Okay, that's good, but..." Kagome glanced around the forest. "How're you getting back? The trees are too close together for you to walk back like that."

Kouga looked blank for a second, then realized her point and shrugged. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'll have to do it my way, then..."

Before she could ask or even wonder much, Kouga had adjusted each trunk carefully and leapt straight into the air. The children gasped as one, and their whispering broke into open babbling.

"You know he's showing off for you, of course," Sango said dryly, handing Shippou back as Kagome sat back down.

"Well, yeah, I figured, but things should go a lot faster if he's helping," Kagome pointed out.

"Who's helping with what?" The children's happy chatter died abruptly as Inuyasha came striding through the trees. "And why do I smell wolf?"

Inuyasha looked at the women sitting down and opened his mouth to say something—then glanced up and nearly bit his tongue clean through as Kouga landed about two inches away. "Morning, dog-turd. Now get outta my space."

"Shut the hell up!" Inuyasha staggered back, flexing his claws. "What're you doing here, bothering everyone again? Go the hell away!"

Kouga shrugged and looked down his nose at the hanyou. "Actually, I'm assisting Kagome and everyone else in moving _your _mess back to the castle so they can use it. Last time I checked, it wasn't bothering anyone to do some cleanup when the idiot who did it refuses to help." He crossed his arms. "Good one, dog-turd. Though I guess I'm bein' a little harsh—after all, when you're too _weak _to help out, it's better to stay out of the way, right?"

"That's enough," Kagome said half-heartedly, not really minding the way Inuyasha was sputtering. _Kouga does have a point. _

"Well, am I right, or am I right?" Kouga looked at her with a faint smirk, then back at Inuyasha, who had failed to come up with a brilliant comeback and settled for growling under his breath. "Go back home before you get hurt or in the way or something."

"Fuck off!" Inuyasha stalked to the nearest tree, sank the claws of one hand into the wood, and lifted it straight into the air. "Where do you want this, Kagome?"

Kagome buried her head in her hands. "Sango? Do me a favor? Shoot me?"

"Shoot you?" the slayer repeated. "What does that mean? With a bow?"

_Aaaaaaaargh. _"Never mind." She raised her head to look at the smirking wolf lord and glaring half-breed. "Just put it where the servants chop the wood, and if you have to compete, for God's sake, don't hurt each other or any bystanders, okay?"

"You're giving him too much credit, Kagome," Kouga chided, easily ducking a swipe to his head from behind and strolling over to pick up two more trunks. "After you, dog-turd."

There was a long, awkward moment as Inuyasha glanced around and came to the conclusion that he could not in fact walk back to the castle without clearing a path. He glared at everyone in turn, and Kagome wanted to hit him as the children shrank back. _Immature idiot!_

Finally, Inuyasha glanced up, frowning in thought, and suddenly threw the trunk straight up and into the air. "There we go," he said with immense satisfaction.

"_Inuyasha_!" Kagome yelped, watching the trunk arc up and begin to fall. "That wasn't—!"

And it landed with a resounding crash, probably in the courtyard; she let out a huge breath of relief. "You freakin' moron, you can't just toss those things anywhere! You could kill someone!"

Inuyasha's smirk faded, and he snarled at her, "Would you relax, bitch? I know exactly what I'm doing! There's no one there right now!"

"Don't call her that, dog-turd!" Kouga barked.

"What?! She's a female! Females are bitches! 'Course, you've never had one, so you wouldn't know, would you, wimpy wolf?"

"You're one to talk, you—"

"Shut _up_!" Kagome threw her hands up. "You two are the biggest...! I swear, if I ever get out of here, I'm going to write a sitcom with you idiots as the stars!"

"Sitcom?" they both repeated, but Kagome was already up and stalking away.

"I'm going back for a while, and when I come back here, I want _all _of it cleared up and neither of you two dead or bleeding or bruised or whatever you like to do to each other! Is that clear? Kids, come on! We're leaving!"

None of the children were foolish enough to protest as Kagome and Sango led them back towards the castle, blinking as the newly risen sun hit their faces. Inuyasha and Kouga merely stood there, looking blank, till the noise from the group had faded into nothing.

"Good going, dog-turd," Kouga snarled, picking up two more trees. "Now get out of my way so I can finish and go calm her down."

"Like hell I'm letting you do it!" Inuyasha scooped one up and threw it with unnecessary vigor. "_You _get out of _my _way!"

Kouga snorted. "You're pathetic." And he leapt into the air, settling down and startling the same two servants he'd seen before all over again, set them down to form the basis of a small pyramid, and leapt back.

Another trunk nearly brained him as he was descending, and Inuyasha greeted him with a smirk as he landed. "Did I do that? _So _sorry."

"That does it!" Kouga raised one claw, then remembered Kagome's edict and growled. "Shit. You're not worth it. Time to get this done so I can go back to her."

"So you can...?!" But Kouga was already gone again, and Inuyasha hurled another tree after him. "Yeah, that's what I thought! Just keep running, you bastard!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kagome felt rather bad for cutting their errand short, but the children seemed to understand; that didn't make sending them back to their chores early any easier on her conscience, though. "I wish I could get some toys for them or something," she said wistfully to Sango as they lounged around her room. "If only I could leave long enough to go to a store..." She shook her head. "But I don't have any money, either."

A resounding crash from the courtyard startled them, but Kagome shook her head irritably, and Sango nodded wearily.

"That's all right, Kagome-chan," she said over another crash from outside. "They enjoy your company enough as it is." Sango picked up the headphones. "Do you mind if I...?"

"Oh, no, go for it." Kagome nodded encouragement. "I think I'll take a nap, actually."

Ten minutes later, her eyes cracked open. "Wait...should I go out an' get the guys?"

Sango made no answer, as she was busy humming along to what had become her favorite song; Kagome took that as a sign and went back to sleep.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. They checked on Kaede after lunch and discovered that the old herbalist was feeling better, but wouldn't be up to training for a few days at the least; after their evening bath, Sango and Shippou escorted Kagome up to Inuyasha's, where the hanyou made a snide comment about keeping her appointments (apparently he and the wolf had waited two hours after they were finished for her to come out). She apologized profusely, but to no avail: he and Kouga had gotten into a particularly nasty argument about _her _again, and it was going to take time and more apologies than Kagome could offer in a single dinner to repair the damage. He settled into a long sulk and refused to talk about it further, and she gave up entirely till they were both done eating and he had to pop the question once more.

"Not that I care any more, but will you marry me?"

"No, I won't, and if you didn't care, you wouldn't be pouting like a little kid." She stuck her tongue out. "For the last time, I'm sorry I left you out there. Now, good _night._" And she left, ignoring his grumpy response.

Kagome didn't remember her promise to Miroku till she was back in the room, but luckily, the monk had apparently been out all day checking for more demons and, according to a friendly maid who came by for laundry, went straight to bed upon arriving back at the castle. "Aw, man," Shippou muttered.

"What?" Sango had just left with the maid to help bring clean clothes and linen back, and Kagome poked the kit in the side. "You're pretty interested, too, aren't you?"

"Course I am. I like those two, and if they don't wanna get together, they're just being dumb." Shippou yawned and settled down. "Better get another blanket. S'gonna be cold tomorrow with the way you and Inuyasha fought today."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Kagome's irritation, it was indeed chilly the next day, and not only was Kaede still feeling unwell, but Miroku went out and predicted that he wouldn't be back for at least a day this time, as he wanted to explore the area's boundaries as far as the curse would allow. As if to seal things, Ginta and Hakaku showed up as soon as she stepped out to go look at the weapons practice area again out of boredom.

"Just wanted to tell you that your family's all right, Kagome-sama," Ginta said as soon as their disguises were down. "They figure you might be alive 'cause all your stuff has been disappearing, and your absence actually seems to have spurred your father into taking charge. The wolf we sent to investigate says he saw your red-haired sister hanging laundry out to dry."

"Really?" Kagome had to smirk at the thought of Akemi doing some work for once. "Is there any chance I can go see them, or that they could come here, y'think?"

"Doubtful," Hakaku replied. "Humans can't get into the castle without permission, and if you meet your family again before the curse is up, it might think you've given up on Inuyasha. I wouldn't risk it—they'll be fine till you can go back and tell them about you and Kouga."

Kagome twitched. "There'll be nothing to tell, okay?"

"But if you did..." Ginta glanced around theatrically. "You know I'm in charge of researching endangered species around here, right?"

"Yeah..." Kagome didn't like where this was going...but who knew? Maybe she was wrong for once. _Well, wrong in my own favor, at least..._

"Well, it was easy enough for our dads to get the wrong idea just by misinterpreting what I told them...if I were to, say, issue a real report and get Hakaku to publicize the fact that the land was ready to be developed, you could hold onto the title, and we could settle down here—but if you were to, say, lease some of it for a few years at a time, the money would go to you. Everyone would benefit."

Sango, who had cramps and was even more preoccupied than her friend, didn't understand enough to comment, but Kagome couldn't speak for a few seconds. "You mean...you're saying if I married Kouga, you'd lie to everyone so we could...?"

"Yep. We don't want to rush you, but considering the curse won't be broken, it's really the best option for everyone, isn't it?" Ginta smiled and bowed, oblivious to her wince. "We'd best get home now. Our wives will never let us rest if they think we're sneaking out to see other women."

"Yeah, you'd best go back to WAIT!" Kagome nearly leapt at them, and they froze. "Where do you live? In the city?"

They nodded uneasily, and instantly her manner changed. She smiled, bowed slightly and clasped her hands in what she subconsciously recognized was a very Akemi-like fashion. "Could you gentlemen please do me a favor? I'd pay you back..."

Inuyasha was a little more relaxed at dinner tonight, though he did want to know why the wolves had come back.

"They wanted to talk about the land more," she said truthfully, shuddering a little at the thought of their offer. _As if I'd marry anyone just to get a hold of some money!_

_But it'd be for your family, _a niggling little voice whispered. _You were willing to die to let your dad live, weren't you? And Kouga would probably let you go to school, too, if it'd make you happy. He'd let you do just about anything. The guy's nuts about you._

_What do you mean, _let _me? _Kagome scowled into her rice bowl. "I'm not Akemi, dammit," she mumbled.

"Who's Akemi?" Inuyasha's voice made her spill her tea, and she cursed, mopping it up with a napkin. _Crap, did I say that out loud?_

"Someone I'm not," she answered succinctly, letting him puzzle that out as she regained her composure. _No, I don't love Kouga, and I'm not marrying him, and that's that. _She mentally nodded to herself, satisfied now that the voice of dissent had shut up.

"So...you're really not letting the wimpy wolf have this place, are you?"

Kagome glanced up, surprised: in Inu-ese, that was an undisguised plea. "No, Inuyasha, I'm not. I wouldn't profit off your situation, and I'm sure as hell not m...changing my mind. So you can relax about that."

"If you say so," Inuyasha muttered, but she heard so much relief under the cynicism that she only smiled and shook her head.

They parted on much more peaceful terms, and even though Sango was too grumpy to talk about it, Kagome was able to fall asleep in pleasant expectation of tomorrow, free of worries about Inuyasha...for now.

True to their word, Ginta and Hakaku arrived early the morning with several large bags and sent a boy inside to wake Kagome and Sango up. "The wolves say that your things are here, Kagome-sama," the youth said uncertainly.

"Good! Thank you very much." Kagome grinned at him and hopped out of bed, patting Shippou urgently. "Wake up, Shippou-chan. I have a surprise for you all."

"Really?" The kitsune rubbed his eyes with his little fists and yawned deafeningly. "Where?"

"Come out with me. Sango, wake up. I promise this is worth it. Shippou-chan, go get the other children and bring them outside, would you—no, no, I'll save it for now..." Kagome paced around, nearly hopping from foot to foot with eagerness.

The wolves were waiting in the courtyard with several garbage bags full of oddly shaped objects. Sango pulled a random one out and studied it critically. "What in the world...?"

"That's a hula hoop. I'll show you how to use it later." Kagome grinned and bowed to both the wolves. "Thank you so much! I'll find some way to pay you back, I swear."

"No, no, it's no trouble. The least we could do for our future alpha female is run a few little errands," Hakaku said, a little too loudly for her comfort as Inuyasha came down the steps.

"I'm not your future anything, and I will pay you back, I promise. Thank you again. Goodbye." She bowed again, not straightening till the wolves took the hint, bowed lower and scuttled off.

"The hell is all this garbage?" Inuyasha rubbed one red eye (she suspected they would've been bloodshot had they not been completely red all the time) and prodded a bag with his foot. "OW! What the...?"

"That was probably some of the tools I asked them to get from a modern store – a marketplace – for me. It's to make building the treehouse easier. I also had them get some other stuff for us." Kagome grinned and did a little impromptu dance. "This is so cool! I can't believe I actually got the chance to get this stuff!"

"What where they saying about alphas?" Inuyasha snapped.

"They're as delusional as Kouga, Inuyasha, so don't worry about it. I'm not cashing in on his thing for me." She missed the way his face tic sped up as she bent over the bags, pawing through and humming happily under her breath. "Oooooh, they even got the right brands! I'm gonna have to pay them back soon."

"Feh." Inuyasha turned on his heel and leapt up the great stairs in a single motion, leaving Kagome to turn around to show him something and falter mid-chatter.

"What's his problem now?" she wondered aloud irritably, shoving the ramen back in the bag.

"Jealous again," Sango mumbled, sighing. "Ignore him."

"Good idea." But her mind wasn't so easily persuaded, and she wasn't quite as happy even when she located the Midol and gave some to Sango, who gulped two down dry the moment Kagome explained their purpose.

Her mood did improve when they came inside and Miroku stopped by the room to tell them he'd mapped most of the area out, and while it stopped just short of the shrine, Inuyasha could probably be persuaded to check on her family for her, he believed. Kagome chose not to share her newfound source of information and merely thanked him, reminding him discreetly of dinner and distracting Sango by introducing her to her favorite brand of strawberry ramune.

"That's...odd..." Sango jerked in surprise as Kagome took the bottle from her, pushed the marble down and soda sprayed everywhere. "What in the...?!"

Miroku also backed off, then came back and laughed outright. "That was amazing! Could you do that again?"

_Wow, got him to smile for real. _"Here." Kagome handed a fresh bottle to Sango. "You guys try it now."

The slayer held the bottle, flushing and leaning away ever so slightly as the monk leaned in, followed Kagome's instructions, and jammed the marble down, sending more soda flying. "My..." Miroku wiped strawberry soda from his forehead, looked up at Sango, and burst out laughing. "Oh, no!"

Sango had taken the brunt of the attack and was now dripping ramune all over. "Charming," she said stiffly, scowling, but as Miroku laughed harder and shook his head, her irritation faded and she smiled awkwardly. "I probably look ridiculous."

"Positively stunning, Sango-sama," Miroku reassured her, fishing a scrap of cloth from inside his robes and handing it to her to wipe her face. "I apologize for laughing at your expense, but I can credit most of it with the novelty of...what is this called, Kagome-sama?"

"It's ramune, a kind of soda," Kagome supplied, wishing she had a camera for the scene. "And you're right, half the fun is opening it. You can't get that marble – the little ball – out again, either."

"Really?" Miroku picked up Sango's bottle and shook it gently. "How curious."

Sango also picked up the first bottle and shook it harder. "What if you broke the glass?"

"Well, yeah, but where's the fun in that?" Kagome fished some batteries out of the bag and gasped. "_Speakers_! OhmygodIcan'tbelievtheygotthese!"

Introducing Sango to small, stand-alone speakers wasn't too difficult, as she was already familiar with headphones, but Miroku took some work. They took nearly an hour to explain, in great detail, how it worked (with Kagome making up a lot of technical details she wasn't sure of), and Sango insisted upon the Hamasaki CD as Miroku's first listen-through.

"Good idea, Sango-chan...you guys go ahead and I'll grab us some lunch." Kagome got up and noted happily that the slayer offered only cursory resistance before settling down close to the monk and beginning to point out and explain the Discman's different buttons. _Maybe dinner won't be necessary!_

Once she was safely in the hall, Kagome found the nearest alcove, squeezed herself into it, and cleared her mind. _Okay...my room, pool of water..._The image of a pool of ramune formed instead, and she banished it irritably. _That stuff would be hell to get out of my hair. Water, c'mon..._There it was, a little pool of clear water. _Dropping in...now—_

The shock was even worse this time, now that she was trying it from her waking body, and it took almost a minute for her to get a good look at her friends and hear Sango talking softly. "...is in English, that's one of the languages Kagome-chan likes to speak. She's told me about it, and the structure sounds very odd. Here's another one I like quite a bit..."

"How strange," Miroku murmured, eyes widening even further as Sango turned the CD up louder and flipped to another track. "Does this music have any practical use?"

"No, they don't use it except for entertainment, or relaxation, I believe. Kagome-chan tells me some musicians make more than lords with their music because they can sell their creations in this form to places even outside Japan."

"Extraordinary," Miroku whispered, tentatively reaching over to press the track buttons. Kagome would've squealed if she could as Sango guided his hand to the correct one, then caught herself and flushed, starting to withdraw.

"No, no," the monk said quickly, catching her hand gently. "It's all right. Which one did you say locates the next song, again?"

"Um..." Sango gulped and shyly tapped the button with his hand. "Th-that one."

"I see." Miroku smiled and picked up the entire Discman. "And where does it get its power again?"

_Ha! I showed you where the batteries were not even two minutes ago!_

"Errr..." Sango hit the stop button, carefully scooped the player up and turned it over. "This compartment holds the s-source." She risked a glance up and swallowed hard: he wasn't looking at her hands, or anywhere below the neck, for once. "Uh..."

"Sango." Without breaking eye contact, Miroku took the player from her trembling hands and set it down.

_C'mon, go for—YES!_

Miroku had almost unconsciously taken both of Sango's hands in his and leaned in till his forehead was resting against hers. "Sango?"

She took a deep, unsteady breath and tried several times before getting out a weak "Yes...?"

"If..." Miroku's eyes closed, and he pulled away ever so slightly. "I..." He suddenly let out a huge breath, and Sango jumped. "Never mind. There's no point."

"No _point_?" Sango's mouth fell open as he dropped her hands and got up. "Houshi-sama, _wait_!"

Miroku paid no attention, gathering up his staff and straightening his gloves, till Sango burst out, "Why did you lie to us about Inuyasha and Kagome and me?"

The monk stopped dead and turned his head ever so slightly. "Lie?"

"You know what I mean! Kagome-chan said to ask you about it, and I'm only asking because I promised her I would!"

"...Do you really want to know?" Miroku crouched in front of her, watching her sadly for a moment. She nodded, eyes bright with a sheen of tears but unwavering. "Let me ask you, are you happy with Kagome-sama here?"

Sango blinked. "B...well, of course. She's the only true friend I've ever had."

Kagome would've hugged her if she could've. _But that would kill the mood, and if anything interrupts, even Shippou, so help me...!_

"Then, for once, I am very glad to have lied to you." Miroku bowed his head and stood up.

"Wait!" Sango leapt to her feet and grabbed his arm. "So you did it for my sake?" He smiled slightly. "Why didn't you just tell me that?"

"What would you have done with the knowledge?" he countered gently.

"I..." Her lips tightened, and she visibly screwed up her courage. "Probably what I did when Kagome-chan and I hit the sake."

Miroku's eye twitched. "Precisely."

"So, what, you don't want me bothering you? Is that it?" Sango said levelly, and Kagome made a note to smack her later.

Miroku chuckled. "Your bothering me is more than I deserve, Sango-sama."

"Well, what if I decided you were worth it anyway?" she shot back, flushing darker than ever.

Open distress flitted on and off his features. "Then I would be happier and more alarmed than I have ever felt, Sango-sama. I will _not _succumb and risk passing my curse on, do you understand?"

"I understand," Sango said tightly, hands going to her hips. "So, no matter what, this is all? Teasing, groping, and occasional moments when we can forget about your fucking hand? When _you _can forget about it?"

Miroku scowled and took a step forward, speaking more tersely than Kagome had ever heard him do so. "I am not allowed to _forget about it_, as you so casually put it! I saw what happened to my father, Sango! He didn't just die—he was engulfed by his own hand, ripped inside out, and left a hole in the ground as wide as the great hall! Naraku is dead, and the only reason for continuing the family's existence was the hope that our curse could be used as a weapon against him—I _will not _pass a meaningless death sentence on to my son, let him see his fate in me first and then let his mother die of grief at having lost two she loves to it! _Now _do you understand? Would you take that burden on yourself, provided Inuyasha's curse is broken and we even have the chance?"

Sango's face had gone white, and her hands were clenched into trembling fists, but her eyes were dry. "But what if..."

"No." The monk was breathing heavily, as if his outburst had been against himself and not her. "I will _not_ let that happen. I know myself, Sango, and if I touch you again, it would not be as innocent as holding your hands." He took a step backwards. "Please, hate me if it makes it easier, but my decision is final. I. Will. Not." Miroku took another huge breath, let it out, and bowed deeply. "I...I am sorry."

Kagome couldn't take it anymore. She snapped back to her body and buried her face in her hands to erase the image of Sango's stricken face. _...Shit! ...Just...oh, God, why did I have to...shit!_

Inuyasha nearly walked right into Miroku as the monk hurried out of the room. "Oi! Watch it, bouzu. C'mere, I need your h...damn, what happened to you?"

It was several moments before Miroku could compose himself and speak. "...I'm afraid I'm in no condition to help, Inuyasha. Kagome-sama has been out quite a while, though, and you may wish to check on her."

Inuyasha stared after him as he hurried off. _What the...?_

On the way to the kitchens, his keen eyes barely caught Kagome's huddled form in the alcove. "What the hell are you doing in there, wench?"

She looked up, and his heart stopped for a second. "Wh...what're you crying for?"

"They..." Kagome sniffed and suddenly launched herself at him, huddling into his front and giving him another minor heart attack.

_D...Sh...What the...?!?! _Inuyasha gaped as she buried her face in his shoulder. "Wh...wh...wh..."

"It's not fair!" she sobbed, pounding his chest weakly in pure frustration. "They _can't_!"

"Wh...who the fuck are you talking about?!" _And what the hell am I supposed to do about it?!_

"Sango and Miroku! They talked and she tried and he..." Words failed, and she clutched at his haori.

"Shit," she heard him mutter above her, and she was ready to shove away in complete disgust – _doesn't he know _anything _about comforting people?! _– when one arm settled lightly around her shoulders and the other draped over her waist, and she gratefully leaned in, not crying as hard but still in need of comfort from someone, anyone. _Even Inuyasha..._

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So _what _happened?"

She'd calmed down to the point where he was able to ask her if she wanted to move out of the hallway, where various servants had no doubt already seen them, and Kagome let him escort her up to his room. "Actually, this is the bouzu's. Servants are always _mentioning_ that mine stinks," he'd grumbled, and she laughed, shaking her head a little, before giving an abbreviated version of the incident.

"So he rejected her?" Inuyasha paused and held up a claw to stop her: a servant was bringing dinner into the next room.

'Already?' she mouthed.

"Yeah, I told 'em to do it early today," he answered once the woman was gone. "So..."

"Uh huh. Basically, he doesn't want to pass the curse on, and he's too horny to keep it platonic, so that's that." She sniffled angrily.

"Smart of him. He can't keep his hands to himself even as it is." Inuyasha held up his hands as she glared. "Hey, don't gimme that. I know what you mean. I think you're right, even, as long as Sango doesn't mind. You ask me, the whole argument is stupid—they've only got, what, two and a half months left now?"

"Oh, shut up." Kagome stood and slammed the shoji open, taking her usual place in the dining room.

"You've been a real bitch lately, you know that?" he snapped, getting up and following suit. "What the hell's the matter? S'not all the bouzu, is it?"

"It's a lot of things." She jabbed her chopsticks into her rice. "Kouga's annoying, you're a jerk, Miroku's dense, and I'm not looking forward to the end of the curse, okay? Not to mention the voices in my head and that other fun stuff."

Inuyasha paused mid-sip. "Wait. The bouzu said you were gone a while, and your hearing isn't worth crap. How'd you know about their fight?"

"That's a secret."

"I'm serious, wench. How'd you know?"

"So am I. I'm not in the mood to talk, okay? Drop it."

"Why should I?"

"Because if you don't, I'll never answer your question again and you'll go the next ten weeks with no sleep!"

"You _bitch, _you wouldn't!"

"Try me!"

Needless to say, the rest of the meal did not go well, and though she did grudgingly answer the question, they said good night on less than civil terms. It wasn't till she was halfway to her room that she remembered that she hadn't thanked him for making her feel better; Inuyasha would also have forgotten had it not been for the smell lingering on his haori when he removed it that night. _Damn ungrateful wench. _Sniff. S_ee if I let her do that again..._Sniff. _I'll make her apologize tomorrow. _Sniff. _Stop that, dammit!_

A/N: Technical difficulties...splitting this chapter into 2. Move on, please. (And it took so long 'cause 's login screwed up. The Fanfic Gods don't like me... ;.;


	17. One Week Part Two

Disclaimer: Still not mine, not Inuyasha or anyone else in here. Wheeee.

A/N: Okay, no kudos for Sis—she went to her bf's house, so I'm splitting this chapter into parts 1 and 2. For crap's sake, **DO NOT **read this one without having read Chapters 15 and 16.

...Just kidding, Sis. My fault for taking too long. Kudos! On with the show!

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 17**

Kagome woke the next morning on her own, thanks to another bona fide Bad Feeling. _Great. What else can happen to make things worse?_

"Kagome-chan?"

Sango's voice from the floor scared her so badly that she shrieked and woke Shippou up. "Sorry, sorry," she whispered, patting the little boy and rubbing her eyes hard. "What is it, Sango-chan?"

"Do you think we could go to Kaede's so I could ask you a few things?"

Uh oh. "What about the computer?"

"I tried to turn it up...no, on last night, and it won't work. Please?"

"Sure." More Bad Feeling. _Dammit..._

Kaede seemed to be feeling better, and Sango didn't beat around the bush. The moment the three women were safely inside the shrine, the slayer cleared her throat. "Kaede, you said that using...it could be dangerous, correct?"

"Aye. Its power only leads mortals and demons alike to evil and eventual ruin, no matter what their intentions for its use." Kaede sipped her tea, shrugging and clutching the tiny cup for warmth in the morning coolness. "Hence my caution to Kagome about using it."

"But if I've already done...some stuff, I wasn't using it, was I?" Kagome asked, lowering her own cup as her stomach began churning. Was that the source of her bad feeling?

"Nay, child, ye would know if ye had come into contact with its power, much less channeled it for your own use." Kaede glanced back at Sango. "Why did ye ask, child?"

"Because..." She swallowed. "Because that's the only way I can think of to purify the houshi-sama's curse."

Kagome and Kaede paused mid-sip to stare at her. "Nay, Sango," the old woman said firmly. "Ye must rid yourself of that idea. It may seem logical, but the J...power is not something ye want to experiment with. Knowing the power that cursed thing holds, it might very well speed it along or feed upon it further, or even transfer it to someone else—likely you, or Kagome if she were making the wish."

"But it's not fair that he has to live with it even though Naraku is dead!" Sango's fist slammed into her own thigh so hard that Kagome winced. "Could Kagome use her own power to purify it, then?"

"Not when we have no idea of how Naraku designed the curse, how much power he invested in it, whether its source is external or not—to try would be to risk Kagome's very life, Sango. Would ye ask that of her?"

"I'd be willing to try," Kagome protested, but Kaede was already shaking her head.

"I know ye would, for ye wish to help your friends, but I strongly doubt any but perhaps my elder sister would have the power—not to mention the knowledge of curses, child, so do not blame yourself, as I already see ye doing." Kagome smiled weakly. "If ye tried, ye would be tempted to draw upon the Jewel's power. We have already discussed the consequences of that as well. Promise me ye will not try it."

"All right," Kagome said grudgingly, more than a little worried by Sango's closed expression.

The slayer waited till they were outside to drop her voice to a whisper. "Did you mean it, that you'd be willing to try?" She shook her head rapidly at Kagome's incredulous look. "I don't want you to if you don't know what you're doing! Losing you would be more than I could take!"

"What'd you have in mind, then?" Kagome asked cautiously, and Sango whispered in her ear. Kagome's eyes widened, and she began to shake her head.

"Please, Kagome-chan! Just ask!" To Kagome's horror, Sango dropped to her knees. "Just ask? _Please_?"

"Quit begging! I'll do it!" Kagome pulled her roughly to her feet. "Go somewhere else and gimme some space, would you?"

"Thank you so much..." Sango surprised her with a quick, fierce hug before backing away and running back for the castle.

Heart heavy with the knowledge that she was being Very Stupid, Kagome walked into the woods and stopped at the Tree. "Kikyou? Are you there?"

"I will not meddle with either curse, girl, not the monk's nor the hanyou's."

Her heart jumped into her throat, and she spun around to look up into the branches. "Kikyou! How much were you listening to?"

"Better to ask what I don't know, girl. It would take far less time." Kikyou smiled very grimly. "Tell me, will you allow the wolves to desecrate even this Tree when they establish themselves here, or shall you give Kouga free rein?"

"I am _not _marrying him or selling the land, dammit!"

"Oh? You would prefer to give it away and let it sit here, unspoiled, and sacrifice your family's well-being, all for the sake of a half-breed you will have known for three short months?"

"I..." Kagome shook her head. "I don't want Kouga! And I don't want to take their money, either! You spent enough time in my head! You know that!"

"I also know you have submerged your own wishes often enough and been a proper daughter in the past. Why would you not do so now?"

"Because..." she floundered.

"And you will not accept Inuyasha, either. How very quaint of you to begin acting entirely on your own desires, _now _of all times."

"Oh, shut up! You know what I mean!"

"Ah, you resort to name-calling. You truly have spent too much time around Inuyasha. Tell me, if your motives are entirely unselfish, why allow the wolves to run errands for you and not relate to Inuyasha the offers they have made you?"

"I'm not taking advantage of them! If I told him about what they said about faking reports and leasing rights, even if he got it, he'd just go off and get all jealous and stupid again! And besides, even if I _did _ever accept Kouga – which I won't – it would be out of love, _not _because I wanted money or security, and in that case, it would be none of his damn business!"

"Oh?" Kagome did _not _like the way she drew the word out. "So my reincarnation may do whatever she wishes now that she realizes her options?"

"_Fuck _you! You've twisted everything I've said around, and now you mock me when you have no idea what my friends and I are going through! I don't know why I even came to ask you about the damn curse in the first place! After this is all over, I hope you rot!" She whirled around, took two steps...and her insides turned to ice. "I..."

"I don't believe I appreciate the way you speak to her." Inuyasha's voice was cool, mocking, almost eerily like Kikyou's. "Not only has she _not _twisted anything you've said, she's brought up several points that you haven't quite addressed."

"Inuyasha, I didn't—"

"Hm?" He tilted his head to one side in mock innocence. "I'm sorry, you're wasting your time speaking to me. I probably won't understand anyway."

"About leasing and land rights, no!" Kagome yelled, then gulped and fought for control. "But I didn't...I was never—"

"Do yourself a favor and save your breath. You weren't going to try to get it through my stupid half-breed skull before, and it's not much more worth it now, is it?"

"She called you that, not me! I don't think you're stupid!"

"Ahhh, so all the times you've called me an idiot, you were just being affectionate?"

"Yes! ...Don't give me that look! How many times have you called me a bitch since I've been here!"

"That was how he referred to _me _before he realized his feelings," Kikyou said from the Tree.

Kagome whirled around. "Would you stay out of this? You're not helping!"

"Leave her alone," Inuyasha growled, his voice dangerously low.

"She can defend herself just fine!" Kagome yelled. "In case you weren't around for the past three or four weeks, _she's_ the one who's been making snide remarks and keeping me on the defensive all the time, not to mention the fact that _I'm _the one who put up with her crap when—"

"_Shut up!"_

"When she said you murdered her deliberately and I said I didn't believe it! _Which I still don't_!" Kagome screamed over him.

Inuyasha froze in mid-bellow. "What...what did you say?"

"You heard me! Why the hell I waste my breath defending you when you take _her _side is beyond me! And if she's going to deny it now, well, fuck you _both_!" Kagome shoved past him and stomped back towards the castle, too angry to cry till she was safely out of his earshot.

Inuyasha stared after her, teeth grinding and blood trickling down his chin where his fangs pierced the flesh. Finally he tore his eyes away and looked up at the priestess, who was watching him, motionless and unsmiling. "Kikyou? Was she telling the truth?"

"If you blindly accept my words and spurn hers, you're an even bigger fool than you were when I was alive." Kikyou folded her hands. "So you deny killing me, even to my face?"

"I did...but I didn't murder you! It was an accident! Why are you...?" Pain ripped through Inuyasha's chest, and he shook his head wildly. "I _didn't_!"

"You echo each other. Except _her _words have a grain of truth to them. Think of that carefully." Kikyou stood gracefully and melted back into the wood.

"Kikyou! WAIT!" Fruitless, as usual. Inuyasha slumped to his knees and clutched his head in his hands. _Why? Why! Who's lying to me! Do I apologize to Kagome...or Kikyou...or both...? What the hell is going on!_

The frustration built to unbearable tension, and he slammed his claws into the earth, sinking down to his elbow. "What the hell is going _on_!"

* * *

The rest of the day, and the next two, were some of the worst Kagome had ever gone through. Upon hearing of what'd happened, Sango was miserable at having made Kagome go, and also at the fact that Kikyou refused to help, in addition to the stiff awkwardness she and Miroku now greeted each other with upon meeting, which was rare by mutual agreement. Kagome refused entirely to go to dinner that night or the next, and Inuyasha didn't come get her or send word. Even Shippou became infected by the gloom and stopped asking when they were going to build the treehouse after a while, and knowing she was affecting him just made Kagome feel worse.

Finally, one night shy of her third week at the castle, Kagome ventured up to Inuyasha's room. "Inuyasha? Are you there?"

"Go away."

"Inuyasha, we really need to talk, and you know it."

"Go talk to Kouga, then!"

"I don't want to talk to Kouga, and if I did, I wouldn't hide it from you, so shut up about it already!"

"Go away!"

"Look, if this is about what Kikyou said—"

"GO AWAY! You women are evil, and I'm sick of dealing with you and your lies and telling me I'm lying and whatever other shit you want to pull!"

"I never lied to you, you bastard, and you know it! I'm going now, but if you don't snap out of this by tomorrow night—!"

"_NO_!" Raw panic and fear leaked into the shout. "If you come by tomorrow night, I'll...look, just stay the fuck away!"

"You _asshole_! Fine! I'm leaving, and I'm not coming back up here!"

"Good!"

"Fine!" Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. _If he doesn't apologize soon, I might just leave tomorrow!_

..._And let the curse run out early? _her voice of reason piped up. _And go where?_

She scrubbed tears from her eyes angrily. _I don't know..._

'_Sides, do you really want to leave him?_

_NO! _She stopped dead. Where had that come from?...Whatever it was, the thought of leaving him hurt, alone and confused like this wasn't just a vaguely unpleasant possibility, like letting the curse win; it made her want to cry and run back and...hit him? Hug him? What?

_I don't know...dammit, I don't know anything anymore!_

The next day, she woke up well into the afternoon, and Sango was up, but laying down on her futon, listening to the Hamasaki CD again. "Why didn't you wake me?" Kagome asked. Sango just shrugged, and Kagome sighed and laid back.

A moment later, she shot back up. A mental itch, like the one with the wolves, but weaker and more persistent somehow, had crept up on her. _A demon? _She got up and went outside; Sango stayed where she was, assuming that Kagome meant to use the bathroom.

Another dose of Foreboding hit her like a ton of lead bricks, and she ran out to the steps, slid down the rail – startling many a servant – and leapt down into the courtyard. _Where's Inuyasha!_

"Inuyasha!" she yelled, head whipping around in all directions.

"What's the matter, Kagome-sama?" Miroku jogged over. "Is it Inuyasha?"

"Miroku-sama! Please, where is he!" Kagome grabbed the front of his robes. "Is he in his room!"

"Yes, but he's sealed himself in and the room won't permit anyone else inside." Miroku looked around in alarm. "You're right. There is a bad feeling in the air. Go back to your room and keep Sango-sama and Kirara with you."

"Right." Kagome waited for him to nod and run towards the back, then headed in the opposite direction and squinted her eyes shut. _Hope no one bugs me..._

The first place she tried, Inuyasha's room, was empty. With a growl, she withdrew her mind, regained her composure, and tried Miroku's room. Nothing. _Son of a...! _The dining room? No. Practice room? No...

_Dammit. _Kagome was getting dizzy and a little faint; she placed her head between her knees, took several calming breaths, and squinted as a ray of sunlight got in her eyes. It was beginning to set, it looked like. _Must take longer to look with my mind than I thought...or I just really slept in. Either way..._ Urgency pricked at her, and she thought desperately. _He's feeling alone, maybe afraid for some reason...ah! There!_

It was the work of seconds now to picture the pool and dive in, and barely ten seconds later, she was looking at the sunset on Inuyasha's hair. He was seated on the edge of the pavilion, legs folded and hands tucked into his sleeves as usual, watching the sunset with such hatred and disgust that she almost withdrew right there. _Wait...he's scared. What the hell is going on!_

Before she could pull out and wonder what was going on from the safety of her body, she saw Inuyasha's head snap to the side; moments later he leapt up and back, just ahead of a monstrous black form. "Greetings," a thin, slimy voice hissed. A large black spider – bigger than three Kiraras put together – perched on the edge. "And how is Inuyasha-sama this evening?"

"Couldn't be worse," Inuyasha snapped, putting one hand to his side and looking down in surprise: Tetsusaiga was missing.

_What the...? He never goes without it anymore..._

The spider lunged, and Inuyasha dodged narrowly, swiping and hacking one leg off. "So close," the demon taunted, coming closer and circling the hanyou with surprising agility. "When I surprise your elder brother with your head, I would like to tell him his flesh and blood was at least a worthy match."

"Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha repeated, eyes going wide. A moment later he dodged again, even closer this time, as the spider lunged again and pinned him to the pavilion by his haori sleeve. "What the hell—"

"No matter for you to worry about," the spider sneered (if something with no face to speak of could, anyway, Kagome thought in a haze of worry). It sank closer as Inuyasha's eyes flicked to the horizon, then back and forth. "What do you care about the sun...? Ohhhh! Well, then! I've been quite lucky choosing tonight, haven't I? The poison'll do its job in a quarter of the time—"

With no further warning, the spider lunged again and sank its fangs to the roots into Inuyasha's neck and shoulder. Kagome's scream drowned out Inuyasha's howl of pain, and she was back in her body and stumbling to the weapons shed for her arrows before she knew what was happening.

"Kagome-sama!" a tiny voice squeaked, and she gasped, withdrawing her hand from where she'd been about to squish the flea demon.

"Myouga?" She scooped up the bow, a quiver, and grabbed him up, running outside. "Where've you been!"

"Gathering information, I'll have you know! I only came back to make sure someone was seeing to Inuyasha-sama tonight!"

"Why? Is something wrong?" she panted, cursing her choice of words as she looked for Kirara or Kouga in vain. _Besides the big poisonous fangs in his neck...!_

"I can't explain without his permission! But you must take me to him immediately!" Myouga wheezed, clinging to her hair.

"I can't! He's on the roof!"

"WHAT?"

"Wait..." Inspiration broke through panic and fear. "Wait...maybe I can—"

She shut her eyes and imagined the pool again...except that now, she had to throw her whole body in. "Aaaugh!" Pain overwhelmed her: she was too exhausted. "Dammit, I can't..."

"What are we going to do!" the flea whined, and the irritation spurred her to close her eyes again.

_Come on...do it, or Inuyasha's dead...Inuyasha...NO!_

Pain overwhelmed her, and before she could think about it, she threw herself into the pool. _Come ON!_

The world spun a dozen times and her stomach turned around a few more times before her knees crashed into smooth stone and her hands caught her just in time. "Inuyasha!" She blinked and looked around blindly. Mercifully, her vision cleared enough to reveal a motionless red blur and a huge black one angling away. "Inuyasha!"

Kagome crawled over as fast as her hands and knees would permit and almost collapsed onto his chest. "Inuyasha, wake up!"

"Hnnnnng..." He moved feebly, and his ruby eyes fluttered open. "Run..."

"Shut up!" The sounds of the spider returning made her sit up; she nocked an arrow to the bow still clutched in her hands and loosed it, obliterating three of its legs.

"Girl...!" The demon roared and hobbled towards them, faster; hands trembling with exhaustion and adrenaline, Kagome fired another arrow, barely nicking its body.

"You _die_!" Mouth gaping wide to reveal huge fangs, the spider reared over her—

The last thing she noticed before everything went white was that its fangs were red with blood. _His _blood. Then her hand came up, great warmth, fingers tingling and...

When she came to, her face was resting on Inuyasha's abdomen, and it was dead black out. "Inuyasha?" she whispered scratchily. "Are you alive? Inuyasha?" Panic overtook her when there was no answer, and she grabbed for his shoulders, shaking harder till she realized blood was soaking her left hand. "Aaaaugh!" _He's— _"No..."

She panted for breath, tears rising and choking her. "Inuyasha. Inuyasha, _please _answer me!" Kagome scrabbled for his hands, finding one and lifting it to her face. _God, he's freezing! _"Inuyasha! Inuyashaaaa!" She buried her face in his haori, sobbing.

"Kagome..."

Her head jerked up. "Inuyasha! Is that you?"

"Careful," Myouga's tiny voice cautioned right in her ear, and she winced. "I sucked most of the poison out, but he has to deal with the rest of it on his own. He'll be fine come morning...with any luck."

"Kagome..." She heard and felt Inuyasha stirring feebly. "Why...how are you here?"

"I figured out how to use my powers to get up here after I checked on you and saw the spider bite you." Kagome tentatively moved around to next to his head. "I didn't want you to die."

She heard a feeble snort. "Shoulda let me, make everything easier on everyone, you too..."

"Shut up, you idiot!" Tears overflowed again, and she swiped them away angrily. "I really thought you were dead there for a second! It's not funny! And why did you leave Tetsusaiga inside?

"Couldn't use it anyway...you're crying...again...stupid." He grunted and shifted. "S'cold out here."

"It's perfectly warm out here, you idiot," she said shortly, fear threatening to overwhelm her again.

His hand came up feebly and touched her arm. "No, s'just you. Can I have some?"

Kagome started. _Did he just...? _"What?"

He sighed, voice getting thinner and more tired. "Could I borrow your lap, please?"

Kagome's throat tightened. _He...did. _"Of course. Here..."

It was the work of a moment to shift him up and lay his head down in her lap. "Is that better?" she asked quietly, stroking his hair before she could stop herself.

"Mmmmmm. Much. Thank you." Inuyasha shivered a little, and she wished she'd brought a sweater or something to give him.

"Give me your hands...there." Kagome rubbed them between hers slowly, wincing at the cold flesh. _Poor guy must be freezing..._

Inuyasha sighed and turned his head to the side, adjusting a little. "Thanks. You really didn't...have to..." He sighed again, longer. "Glad you did."

"No problem." She set his hands down and commenced stroking his hair, smoothing the strands trailing down from her lap. _Huh. Must be 'cause I can't see them, but they're a lot softer than I remember..._

"Kagome?"

"Hm?" She glanced down at the voice, glad he couldn't see her face—it had to be flaming red now.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you."

She stopped dead, then placed a hand on his forehead. "You're a lot sicker than I thought."

He rested his hand on hers, and her heart almost stopped. "I mean it. I was...stupid. Almost died...letting you think...hated you."

"Quit talking. It sounds like it hurts." _And it hurts me. _

She paused mid-stroke. What was happening here? She should've been freaking out, not getting cozy.

_Well, why not? You care about him, right?_

"Kagome?"

"Sorry." She started running her fingers over his scalp again, wondering idly where his ears were. _Must be smushed or something. _

"You smell really nice."

"Huh?" That one came out of left field, and Kagome's heart rate sped up noticeably. "Uh...didn't you say you hated it?"

"I did...?" Inuyasha shrugged a bit and rolled his head to the other side to let her fingers get the other side of his scalp. "I lied." He inhaled deeply, then exhaled.

_Oh, boy. My heart's gonna explode at this rate..._"Are you tired?" she whispered, more to distract herself than to get information. He made a noise of sleepy assent. "You should sleep, then."

"Can't..." Inuyasha moved again, shivering and shaking his head a little. "It's cold and it hurts."

"Well, I..." Her heart literally missed a beat as she felt something touch her cheek. "What...what're you..."

"Sorry. You're really warm." He let his hand drop.

"That's all right," she soothed, wincing a little at his contrite tone. "I don't mind. You just startled me, was all." She grabbed his hands and held them up to each side of her neck the way she used to with Souta on cold days, suppressing a gasp as heat seeped out of her flesh.

"Nnnnn...thanks." He pulled his hands free and let them drop again.

_Geez, I'm going Shoujo Heroine again...damn, what else do I do...? _She half-smiled as desperation crept up. _What would a Disney heroine do now? I don't have any magic helpers...too exhausted to take either of us down with my superpowers, stupid powers..._

Inuyasha stirred restlessly, and as he turned his face again, she realized that he was sweating heavily. _Huh. Did he ever sweat before...? _"Inuyasha, are you all right?"

"No. Hurts." He grunted.

She mopped at his face lightly with her sleeves. "Um...well, maybe I can take your mind off it..." _Getting naked wouldn't help in this darkness...God, listen to me! Think, Kag! You have a brain somewhere! Shoujo Heroine...would cry and wait for the guy to save her. Or kiss him. _The thought made her flush even worse. _Okaaaaay...wait, what about...Mom? _She swallowed hard. _She'd—wait, that's it! Hell, it's the same thing a Disney heroine would do, too! Two-fer!_

She laughed out loud, stroking his hair when he made a questioning noise. "Just relax, Inuyasha, and tell me if it's too awful. Don't say I didn't try, though..."

Through a haze of cold and burning pain, Inuyasha understood she was about to do something and grunted. _Don't care. Anything now..._

A soft, high sound right above him made him look up in surprise; his eyes were useless now, of course, courtesy in more than one way of the new moon, but he knew it had to be Kagome making it. "What...how're you..."

"What, you've never heard anyone singing before?" she asked in some surprise.

"N...go on."

Pleased, Kagome cleared her throat and started up again, a slow, simple melody in a language he didn't understand. It seemed to be very short, though; he grew more and more relaxed as the soft but sweet notes repeated themselves, lilting slightly in melancholy grace before fading into dark silence.

Kagome waited, a bit apprehensive, for his reaction. "...Inuyasha?"

"Hm? Was sleeping..."

"OH! Gosh, I'm sorry!"

"S'okay...Kagome? What did the words mean?"

"Uh..." She thought for a moment, then gave him the translation.

"Mmmm."

"Then..." Kagome gave the next line.

"Pretty nice."

"Mmm-hmmm. Now..." Third line.

"...Weird..."

Kagome sighed. "Yeah. Last line..." She sang it a bit slower than before. "This means..." She faltered. "Uh..."

"...Kagome?"

"Uhhh...that was..." Something mushy, but she bravely said it anyway.

"I like that one."

"Me, too," Kagome murmured, shifting against an ache in her back from sitting upright too long. "D'you think you can sleep now?"

"...You don't already have one...do you?"

"What?" She frowned down at him. "Have a what?"

"Love. Never even thought to ask."

Kagome snorted. "Living with my family in the middle of nowhere for three years? Where would I get one?"

"M'sorry."

"Don't be. I was never that big on dating anyway." Kagome smoothed the hair back from his forehead, resting her hand there for a second. "You feel a little warmer. Want to go to sleep now?"

"Still feel cold...and you can't...sitting up."

"This is true. Not all of us can sleep upright." Kagome shifted. "So what do you suggest?"

"Down."

"_What_!"

"Down. Use...haori for a blanket."

"Uh...well, I guess that makes sense." Kagome gently shifted him off, and, face flaming all the while, laid down with her back against his side, permitting him to turn over and drape one arm over her hip. "Better?" she squeaked.

"Yeah." Inuyasha pulled her in tighter; she felt him nosing around her neck and wondered fleetingly if he was going to do anything inappropriate. But he only laid his face down and sighed. "Sorry. You mind much?"

"Well...if it were Kouga, I'd say yeah, but you're not so bad at all." Kagome couldn't believe she was actually telling him this—but hey, if he was suddenly uber-honest, why couldn't she be?

"Good. M'really sorry." Kagome willed her heart to slow down as he sighed and cuddled her closer. _Good God, I can't believe this...or...well, how much I don't mind! _

It was going to be a story to tell her grandkids, that was for sure. _"Y'all gather 'round and hear 'bout how Granny slept with a half-demon...no, not like THAT, ya sick-minded runts!"_

It was too much; she started giggling and couldn't stop, even when Inuyasha stirred and sighed uneasily. _Ohhhh, damn...wonder who else's grandkids they'll be?_

With that strangely pleasant thought foremost, Kagome leaned back in, sighed, and was asleep almost the moment her eyes closed.

* * *

A/N: ...If that's not enough fluff to last you, I don't know what it. (Wheee, combo song/blanket fic...anyone know the song? Not later readers, as ff dot net made me take it out!) 

Apologies to everyone whose teeth are hurting, but if it's really that bad, just keep in mind we have one more couple who has to make up. :evil grin: Unfortunately, this will not be for at least a few more weeks. I've been waiting to write'n forever, and I even sped it up a bit so y'all could have it before I left to go back home. Hope you liked it...tell me what you think, s'il vous plait.


	18. The Morning After

Disclaimer: Even if I were rich, I wouldn't own Inuyasha. I can't draw.

A/N: Moving. School. People moving to school. Ewwwww. And they all make me late to update. I think we can (mostly) all agree that these things therefore suck. Well, now that I'm back home and riding a wave of melancholy thanks to yet another departure of someone close to me (stupid damn school!), here's a new chappie thingy for everyone. (Especially Amy. She's up at a new college away from all of us, so we say hi through the Internet, wheeee.)

...Psych. Thanks to the long gap, I have some reviewer responses I wanna do. The rest of y'all can skip down now. 'Cause you're all psychic and know if you're listed here or not. Yeah. (cough) I do love hearing from everybody, though, so just 'cause you're not mentioned doesn't mean that I hate you: it means I've been up for 20 hours and I wanna get this thing uploaded NOW. :''D

**Midoriko-sama: **Wow, ego boost indeed...especially since I found the 'Beast' thread on Green Tea. I was so embarrassed...! (bow) 'Twas an honor to hear from you here. (Another funny thing is, that GT thread was - probably inadvertently - started on my birthday. Kudos to Viitoria. XD)

**minaosu: **Here you go, sis. I've gotten up at 6 and pulled an all-nighter 'cause of you twice this week, but you rule anyway.

**ArtemisMoon: **Your kittens are sooo cute...(ahem) I mean, thanks. : )

**Pillarchick: **Hey, cuz, here's a new chapter...and you get a shout-out 'cause you were my 200-th reviewer! Nice, ne? :D

**SilverStarWing: **You're the only person who pointed that out. ;) I was wondering if anyone would notice...mwa ha ha ha ha.

**RocktheDesert: **Everyone, this is my oldest brother, and he's currently stationed in Iraq. This man kicks ass. I don't know when he'll see this, but when he does, you rule, Rob!

**Shjorpa: **Thanks for ze many nice compliments; I hafta politely disagree about Kag being ooc (after all, I'm the author, it'd be kinda scary if I didn't). She's rougher around the edges, more cynical and sharper than canon Kagome, but that's because of the setting, and I really don't think she's set in her opinion of him—she's already cut him a lot of slack 'cause she's getting to know him better. Always nice to hear well-worded and polite constructive crit, though. :D

**JaneDrew: **Ahhh, predictions. I love it. :D And I will say nothing more. ;)

Once again, now that I'm firmly entrenched back at home with my writer's block loooong gone and Tales of Symphonia no longer distracting me from precious precious writing time, your reviews mean a lot to me (as measured by my evil laughter when I read them, so keep 'em coming, very please). Oh, and hi, Mom.

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 18**

Inuyasha did not actually sleep that night: he'd been advised that certain concessions might be made on his new moon nights as far as the curse went, but as he had forgotten to ask his guest That Question (as he now sullenly thought of it), his exhausted mind could only sink into a numb doze that, under the circumstances, he was glad to accept as a substitute. It hovered far enough from consciousness that the last threads of cold fire running through his veins no longer registered, but not close enough to slumber for him to dream. Instead, even as he instinctively huddled the warmth against his front closer and felt it shift back obligingly, Inuyasha listened to his thoughts careen around his skull.

_So. I did it on purpose._

_The hell I did! I remember what happened, and no way I did that on purpose! She's the one who stumbled in front of me as I took that centipede out!_

_So, what, is she lying just to piss me off or mess with me?_

_She's got better ways than that, and she was always such a bitch about people lying outright...dodging around the truth was an art form, sure, but _lying? _No. No way._

_Okay then, somebody's got something wrong somewhere. And Kagome's in the middle of it. Again. Great._

Both sides faded into silence so his brain could remind itself how furious Kagome had been at the Tree. Guilt jabbed at him stealthily, and his defensive reflexes twitched violently in response. _What?! She was hiding all that crap about the wolves from me! And she was yelling at Kikyou! What else was I supposed to do?_

That lone voice faltered under the weight of his conscience's disapproval, and it died away with a few more sulky mutters, unaccustomed to opposition from that quarter. _Shit._

The unrest that his physical pain and Kagome's ministrations had put aside now crept back up on him. Things _had _ended badly, just about as much as they possibly could've...but even at her most vengeful, Kikyou..._his _Kikyou...wouldn't have called him a murderer and a liar when it plainly was not true.

A vague notion came to mind that, well, maybe this ghost really wasn't his Kikyou...that _she _had really died that horrible night, and left only a spirit who—

_NO! _Inuyasha rejected that thought so violently that he nearly woke himself up. But he regained some control before he could come awake, just in time not to notice Kagome stirring uneasily against his chest. _No, that's a load of crap. It's Kikyou, all right..._

..._Kikyou... _Just the name itself brought back a flood of memories, and once more he watched as his mind ran off, coming back with his earliest recollections of her.

Demons – or, in this case, those gifted/afflicted with demon blood – did not use narcotics, and so Inuyasha had never had any real analogies to try to sort out how he initially felt towards the young priestess who showed up, uninvited, one otherwise inconspicuous day and made it calmly, politely, excruciatingly clear to the demon guards that she _was _going to speak to Izayoi-sama, or someone was going to get hurt.

On the one hand, he certainly didn't like her. In fact, the first few times he got caught staring at her or trailing after her out of boredom or curiosity (about the Jewel, of course, not that he cared about some stuck-up human wench), Miroku himself had even cautioned him to avoid her. But the well-deserved words of warning hadn't dispelled the strange feeling Inuyasha gradually developed as the weeks passed into months and Kikyou began to tolerate the way he would shadow her around the grounds, waiting for her to emerge from her daily rituals in the shrine, flitting from branch to branch in the trees ahead of her when she left to gather herbs in the woods.

At first, Kikyou had affected ignorance of, then indifference towards his presence; she was fully capable of destroying any demons who assumed that a lone human female must by definition be vulnerable, and such power meant she needed little protection—and certainly not from the castle's untrained hanyou lord. Before long, though, she began greeting him as he approached, with what he'd believed to be total stealth, and even invited him to join her in a quiet clearing one day three months after her arrival.

"No sense in staying up where no breeze blows and no fruit grows," she'd said with uncharacteristic whimsy as he dropped warily to the ground and sniffed in her direction suspiciously.

"Don't give me that, witch. What're you doing out here?" he'd growled, irritated as always by her unflappable manner and at having been caught yet again.

"Hmmm." Kikyou shrugged slightly, half-smile unwavering as she removed a piece of fruit from one voluminous sleeve and bit into it. "I wanted to see if you would follow, as always."

Inuyasha couldn't offer a sensible answer, so he'd grunted and folded his hands into his own wide sleeves, settling down with an undignified thump some feet away. "What do you care?"

"You have your own duties to attend to, and _you _have followed _me_. The question is misaimed." Her expression was grave, but Inuyasha couldn't help wonder if he was imagining a glint of something very lacking in solemnity lurking beneath the facade.

"Feh." _Bitch is mocking me again. _But he couldn't summon any real irritation, beyond of course his irritation at not getting irritated. He eyed her suspiciously again and edged away. _And I can't seem to stay away from her! What's she doing to me?_

"Did you wish to ask something?" the priestess inquired coolly, replacing the remains of her squeezed-dry fruit and suddenly extracting a fresh one, which she tossed lightly to Inuyasha.

He caught it with two fingers and lowered it without looking away. "What're you after?"

"After?" Kikyou raised one eyebrow and met his glare with calm indifference. "I wish nothing from you except peace to go about my duties. Your attendance has both helped and prevented me from attaining it, so I hardly know whether to request you leave or not."

He didn't get enough of that to respond, so she went on uninterrupted. "Acting as unbidden escort cannot be your only occupation. Tell me, does Izayoi-sama mind the way you spend your time? Nearly all of it?"

"She...well..." Inuyasha scowled, clutching the fruit tighter and examining the tiny flecks on its skin to avoid the priestess's eyes. Suddenly he felt fairly idiotic: his mother had no clue just how much time he spent tailing Kikyou. _And for no reason. Dammit, she's got me. Why the hell didn't I stay inside today?!_

Kikyou regarded him steadily, face as blank as ever, then smiled ever so slightly and got to her feet. "We should head back now. If you must persist, mind you don't frighten the children tomorrow. We're going out to the Tree so I can show them the flowers."

And that was that. She'd ignored him completely the next day, and the next, and Inuyasha had dreaded the gentle grilling he was going to receive when his mother caught wind of how he was harassing her guest. But none was forthcoming, and as more time passed, he suspected only Miroku, a few of the servants and maybe the two demon slayers were even aware of his growing attachment—and those only from keen observation or half-guesses, certainly not from speaking with either priestess or hanyou. Kikyou had no friends except perhaps the children, and they were hardly suitable confidantes—

* * *

Inuyasha was almost grateful when his brooding faltered, dropping off as physical sensation took over and he became aware that something was tickling his nose. _What the...?_

His eyes were still glued shut, but as he gradually came to, he also noted that whatever was bothering his nose was also quite warm despite the chilly air and smelled like...what was that scent? Gentle, feminine, but not , and familiar...one more whiff...

_Kagome. That's Kagome. _He breathed in deeply and let out a long sigh, curling around her absently as the tenseness drained from his muscles. _Dunno what she eats to make her smell so n—_

Smell...hair...Kagome...wait.

_What the...?_

One eye cracked open, and sure enough, there she was, top of her head inches from his nose, back plastered to his front, head resting on his arm.

His first instinct was to...well, go back to sleep. He was tired, after all, and she was warm, peaceful, it was quiet...

..._Wait. What the hell...?_

His next instinct was to fully open his eye and confirm, with the tenth of his brain that was functional, that he wasn't mistaken...._ Nope, that's Kagome. Good, thought I was relapsing...time I fell asleep in Mom's room and got caught drooling all over her favorite old kimonos...not my fault, smelled good..._

He yawned and, out of courtesy, pried the other eye open and peered closer to be sure he hadn't drooled on her hair—and she turned over in her sleep, coming to rest with a small sigh against his chest. That was when it began to occur to him that all was _not_ right with the world.

..._What the HELL?!_

His _next _instinct, as he twitched fully awake, was to squeak like a girl, jump to his feet, and put about half of Japan between them. Instead, though, his body decided to freeze, while his mind haltingly doubled back and confirmed that, yes, somehow, he had fallen asleep...on the pavilion...and _some_how wound up draped over Kagome, but...but...okay, he didn't know how, but there had to be a logical explanation somewhere, didn't there?

Further alarmed by his own sudden skepticism towards the existence of a logical explanation, he briefly debated shaking her awake and demanding to know if sake had been involved, and, if so, assurance that nothing had happened. But, considering her capacity, she wouldn't be much better a judge than him...and besides, he didn't smell any booze. _No booze...shit. I'm out of ideas. Better not shake her, then, I guess..._

Instead, with exaggerated care, as though she was a light-sleeping and very dangerous animal, Inuyasha slowly peeled his arm off her waist and very, very carefully tried to shift back and away from her. _C'mon, don't move, don't move, d...shit!_

Sure enough, Kagome, still asleep, promptly scooted with him and reattached herself with another sigh.

_Aw............crap. _Inuyasha gulped and willed his heart to stop hammering lest it wake her up. Then he remembered that she was human and probably couldn't hear it she?

He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them in utter bewilderment. _What the hell happened? Why are we out here?_

Inuyasha squinted into the predawn greyness for clues and realized that his eyesight had already returned. A careful sniff at the air revealed that his nose was coming back up to speed, too; that and his proximity to Kagome must have been what had woken him up.

_Wait...came back. New moon..._

Vague memory returned, and he flexed his shoulder, which had healed itself along with his neck sometime in the night.

Well, that explained the blood-stink crusting the paved floor under his cheek, his white kimono and parts of his haori.... He forgot to be embarrassed in a moment of sudden terror before he realized that it was all his, and overwhelming relief cleared his head a bit further. _Kagome's not hurt. Good._

One neck-straining look to their right confirmed his hazy recollections of a spider, Kagome, and lots of pain: there was a fine scattering of black dust where the demon had been. _Ye gods, she torched it like wood in dragon's breath. _He glanced down with surprised respect, which swiftly turned to panic when he raised his arm to smooth her hair back absently and caught sight of his hand. _Shit! The sun's not up yet...!_

A frantic look over his shoulder did nothing to allay his fears; he had at least a couple of minutes before the sun would rise over the horizon. Profanity clouded his thoughts for many a moment, before he realized that he was growling aloud and hurriedly stopped before he woke Kagome up.

_Now what? _Well, he could try to free himself again and pretend nothing had happened. That _really_ sounded appealing...but what if she woke up and saw him? He couldn't get off the roof till after dawn; his senses always came back just before the sun did, but his legs wouldn't be able to manage that jump for at least a few more minutes. And there was nowhere to hide up here...

_Maybe she'll stay asleep? Lazy wench'll keep going till noon if I let her. _He snorted very lightly and set his head down cautiously, exhaling as the slight motions didn't disturb her even breathing. His foot twitched as she stirred. _C'mon, don't wake up..._

Now that he thought of it, the cold air wasn't bothering him, but Kagome couldn't be very comfortable without any covering. _Hmmm...well, if I stay put, she won't wake up yet. Plus I'll have something to throw back if she tries to bring up last night. _He grimaced at his own stupidity and weakness, begging for attention like a spoiled kid or a puppy. _Good thing Fluffy's long gone..._

But, on second thought, if she'd minded, she'd hid it pretty well, and he owed her double for not laughing at him. _And for the spider. Gods, I hate the new moon! _He scowled at the back of her head as he somehow managed to free himself long enough to remove his haori and tuck it around her, resettling without her so much as stirring. _There, wench. We're even... _He breathed in despite himself, and his eyes closed of their own accord. _...just as long as you stay this way._

Somewhere, he was sure in retrospect, some kami governing irony heard that thought, and thus it was that less than thirty seconds later he felt Kagome shift around, opened his eyes in sleepy curiosity, and froze again, even his heart skipping two beats: Kagome's head had moved from the lower crook of his arm up nearly to his shoulder, and centimeters from his face. He was willing his pulse to slow and just beginning to convince himself that maybe this was better – after all, he could see if she was awake yet much more easily now – when she mumbled something in her sleep and scooted as close as possible, draping herself half over him and settling down again.

Several things happened in Inuyasha's already beleaguered brain, and had he more experience or inclination, he could have done several things accordingly...but he had _no _experience to speak of and therefore had no clue what to do about what was happening, beyond his instincts.

Unfortunately, those were giving him highly mixed signals, and he desperately seized upon the most familiar.

"What the _hell _are you doing?!"

Kagome jumped a mile at the half-gasped snarl in her ear, and she bolted upright almost in sync with him, clutching the haori and looking up automatically.

More asleep than awake, Kagome felt as if her brain had just snapped a quick shot instead of really registering anything; she had an impression of scowling, a fringe of sleek black hair, Inuyasha's voice...but—

But the light breaking over the horizon was too bright for her sleep-dulled eyes to take in more before everything suddenly went mercifully dark again.

..._Wait. I'm not asleep... _Kagome tried to catch her breath, grateful that she was still sitting. _What happened? Why can't I s......oh Lord. ...No. No way._

But...that was what her eyes told her, so it had to be true. It wasn't an illusion...was it?

"Inu...yasha?"

He gulped again and willed the sun to hurry up. "Y...yeah?"

"Inuyasha, I'm going to ask you one question, and I want an honest answer."

Inuyasha suppressed a tiny yelp and steeled himself.

"Can you please tell me if I'm correct in assuming that _you have your hand across my eyes?!"_

He almost wilted with relief, but didn't lower his arm. "Uh...maybe?"

Kagome suddenly ducked backwards, catching another glimpse of bloodstains on his kimono and ebony hair before the sun slid over the horizon, directly into her eyes, and she squinted them shut. When she opened them, Inuyasha was gone.

"Inuyasha? What the...?" She stumbled to her cold-numbed feet and turned around just in time to catch him darting behind her again. "Wh...what are you _doing_?!"

"Just hold still a few more seconds." The panic in his voice caught her off guard, even more so than the fact that he was speaking into her ear. Hands pressed urgently on her red-clad shoulders. "Just a second longer."

_Hands... _Flashes from the previous night, the feeling that something was wrong, and the impressions on the haori now suddenly connected. _His hands! Where are his claws?! _

Further thought was forestalled by a light prickling on the back of her neck, and she shuddered as the skin bunched reflexively.

"Okay," Inuyasha mumbled, and she snatched at his hands, nearly pricking her fingers on one razor-edged claw.

"Crazy wench! Stop that!" He pulled them back. "What're you doing?!"

"You're asking _me_?" she snapped, and he shuddered at the unconscious echo. _Thank heavens their voices don't sound anything alike..._

Kagome whirled around and scowled at Inuyasha, who looked perfectly normal – for him, anyway, white hair, face stripes, red eyes and all – as he straightened his stained kimono. "Your claws weren't there a second ago, Inuyasha! And your hair, and you didn't have Tetsusaiga, and that _thing_..." She trailed off and glanced around, blinking in some surprise at the pavilion, empty save for them and her bow and arrows.

"See this?" Inuyasha strolled over to the spider's remains and brushed it aside disdainfully with one foot, affecting indifference and willing his pulse to slow down. _Too close. _"Dead. Nice job, by the way. Where'd you learn how to do that?"

"Don't change the subject!" Kagome stalked over to him and tugged accusingly on one white lock hanging alongside his jaw. "Myouga said something was up, that thing made a big deal about its timing, and you almost died! I'm not stupid, Inuyasha! What's going on?"

"Feh." Inuyasha crossed his arms, hands hovering awkwardly without any haori sleeves to slip into, and made a valiant attempt to walk away. With Kagome hanging onto his hair, though, he only managed a step before he was forced to stop. Kagome humphed and came forward a little, moving with him as he headed towards their usual launch point to get back down, refusing to surrender her grip. She made a note to laugh about it some time later, when cold, worry, confusion and anger weren't getting in the way of what was probably quite a funny picture.

"You're forgetting your junk," he said shortly, jerking his head towards the bow and failing to free his hair in the process.

"So I am. Now, tell me what happened?" Kagome let go, stalked over to her things, and slung the bow over one shoulder, reaching for the quiver. "You really had meAAAA!" She shrieked as the sun glinted dully on a thick layer of dried blood on her palm. "Oh my God! Inuyasha!" Kagome's chest constricted, and she stared at her hand in shock. "You..."

"Yeah, yeah, we can get you cleaned up as soon as—"

"You _idiot_!" Kagome's knees nearly gave out. "I can't believe you!"

"What? What'd I d—"

"You almost died, you moron!" Inuyasha's ears flattened in dismay as she gave him a teary glare. "And you're still not gonna tell me what happened, are you?"

"Hey, calm down! I'm fine!" He settled down next to her and swept his hair over one shoulder, angling his head away to display his neck. "Look, see? No more fang marks or anything. Now can we go?"

"You insensitive...!" To his utter bafflement, Kagome began to sniffle harder.

"What? Stop that! You did enough of that last night, and I can't handle any more right now, okay?"

"_You _can't handle any more?!" Kagome brandished her palm, and he flinched, half expecting a smack on the cheek. But she had already turned her wrist and was staring at the bloodstains.

The pause stretched into an uncomfortable silence, then into an extremely long and uncomfortable silence. Inuyasha was just beginning to wonder if she was giving him the silent treatment when she abruptly stood, rocking back a little on her heels. "Look, Inuyasha, I'll make you a deal."

"Deal? What kinda deal?" he asked cautiously, standing and leaning away lest she explode again.

"It's nothing you can't handle." Kagome grimaced and gave a little shake of the wrist, as though it would help to get some of the dried reddish-brown off. "I won't bring it up if you won't pretend it didn't happen."

Inuyasha's ears flicked in perfect unison. "What?"

"I said, I won't bring it up – I won't tell anybody, not even Sango, so you better appreciate it – if you won't pretend it didn't happen. As in, no hanging around outside the next new moon." He growled, and Kagome tapped her foot impatiently. "Oh, come on. A blind guy could've figured out you get weaker then for whatever reason, okay? I told you, I'm not gonna tell anyone about it. If you didn't trust me enough to tell me before, at least trust me that far."

"Don't act like I _should've _told you," he snapped, turning his back and pacing towards the edge so he wouldn't have to see her expression. "I've been hiding it since I was a kid, okay? When maybe three people out of everyone you know _don't _want to kill you, you get used to not mouthing off about stuff like that."

"So you don't trust me at _all,_ is that it?" Kagome set her jaw, unnerved by how much that hurt.

_C'mon, you've known him three weeks, and he's been paranoid his whole life! What do you expect?_

That logic didn't make the guilt she detected in his next snarl any less gratifying, though. "I don't trust _anyone_, bitch! Are you ever gonna shut up about this?!"

"I just said I will if you just try to take care of yourself a little better," she said with as much patience as she could muster. _Maybe I should leave him out for another spider to find if that's what it takes to get him to be reasonable for five minutes!_

Inuyasha's ears remained in near-constant motion as he digested that, and Kagome amused herself by watching them, ready for his about-face when they finally stopped. "You're not gonna tell anyone? And you promise not to bug me about it?"

Kagome sighed, resigning herself to the role of the one being granted a favor. "Yes, Inuyasha. I'm not telling anyone anything except that I came up after you and we stayed up here for the night. And no, as long as you _stay inside _next time, I won't say anything...unless you bring it up first."

"Feh. Why the hell would I bring it up?" He crossed his arms again as she came over to him.

"Because you're like a little kid with a secret when it comes to stuff you don't want to talk about: you sulk until we end up talking about it." She tugged on his hair gently and offered him a tentative smile. "You're sure you're all better now?"

Something about that smile stopped his brain for just a second, but he turned and crouched before he thought she noticed. "Speak for yourself, wench. You spent enough power to kill most priestesses. You oughta go see the hag once we get back down."

"I will," she replied obediently, wondering about that brief, blank look he'd tried to hide. _Probably plotting revenge for the 'secret' remark. But it's true, dagnabbit..._

"Good," he said shortly as she stepped up and settled herself comfortably, bow, quiver and all. He tensed to spring. "It's a deal. Thanks. And _that's all_."

They were airborne almost the moment the quiet words left his mouth, but Kagome was sure she'd heard them. _Guess I should be grateful for that much, even, _she thought ruefully as they arced over the grounds – very pretty in the early light, not that she was able to devote much attention – and settled fairly gracefully outside the third floor.

Several servants had spotted them in the air, but Miroku was quicker: he'd heard the thump of their landing and was there to greet them before they were halfway to the stairs. "Kagome-sama! You're all right!" He clasped her hands briefly and bowed in palpable relief, then whacked Inuyasha without even looking up. "If you _ever _scare us like that again..."

"Why am I the one getting punished?" Inuyasha complained, but the monk was already ignoring him.

"Kagome-sama, please go see Sango-sama as soon as she wakes. I had to give her more...tea...to help calm her." Miroku folded his arms sternly. "She was quite worried about you, you know."

"I know, and I'm sorry," Kagome apologized, bowing back in genuine regret. "I just guessed where Inuyasha was, and neither of us realized how late it was by the time we...uh..."

"Killed the demon?" Miroku deftly caught her bloodied hand and thumped Inuyasha between the ears again, this time with feeling. "Do _not _tell me you let her get hurt and waited till now to bring her back!" He scowled, easily evading Inuyasha's attempts to wrest the staff from him. "Where were you? Kirara couldn't find you on the grounds anywhere, and the castle must've been turned inside out thrice over..." An arch look suddenly smoothed his features over. "Though Kaede thought she detected a warding somewhere one hadn't been before...you know, Kagome-sama, if you had truly wanted to be _alone_ for the night, you didn't have to go to such lengths to—"

Inuyasha stopped mid-grab and plucked the monk off his feet, grasping the front of his robes so tightly that his claws punctured the fabric, and capped each word with a violent shake. "If – you – ever – bring – this – up – again – you _die_!"

Miroku nearly lost his footing as the hanyou dropped him and stomped back into his room, slamming it open and shut so hard that the walls rattled. "He's not in the best mood," Kagome said apologetically, grabbing the monk's sleeve and steering him as far away from Inuyasha as possible. _Bruised ego, and Miroku just kicked it pretty hard. _"We were...um...making sure no more demons followed us down into the castle. Inuyasha didn't like being stuck up there, so he's kinda...you know." She shrugged elaborately. "Yeah."

"Hmmm." Miroku eyed her thoughtfully, then smoothed the torn front of his robes and cast a look behind them. "I would sooner cut off my own head than doubt you, Kagome-sama, but you had only to summon us and we would have been glad to help stand watch."

"That's Inuyasha for you. Rocks in his head. Didn't want anyone interfering in protecting _his _castle. Stupid, huh? But not much you can do about it." Kagome forced a smile and another shrug to cover her babbling.

"He does seem quite out of sorts. If nothing more than that happened—"

Kagome stopped suddenly, smiling again with a distinct note of warning. "_Yes_, Miroku-sama?"

"Er...nothing." Miroku bowed and motioned for her to precede him down the stairs.

"Good. I'm gonna go take a bath now..." She started down, then paused, hopped three steps back up and upended her quiver on the wooden floor. Miroku's eyebrows rose considerably as Kagome riffled through the scattered arrows, scanned the area, and then snatched something up. "I _knew _you were still here!"

"You're as bad as Inuyasha-sama," the flea demon griped, struggling between her thumb and forefinger.

"We'll be just one second, Miroku-sama." Kagome bowed hurriedly and held up one finger, then dashed back down for a hurried, whispered conference with her struggling captive.

"You're going to keep quiet about what happened last night, right?" she hissed, crouching on the middle of the staircase, praying no one came by to see her squatting and talking angrily to her hand.

"Of _course _not, Kagome-sama," the flea wheezed, wriggling against her loose but firm hold. "As I said, I am not permitted to relate the details of Inuyasha-sama's condition, not even to you. Now, if you would kindly let me—"

"I'm not just talking about his condition!" Kagome glared at the tiny demon and brought him up to eye level. "The way he was talking and everything was just a fluke, you know, so I don't want you telling everyone we're engaged or anything!"

"You're engaged?" Miroku said with some interest from the top of the stairs, and Kagome jumped a mile, accidentally freeing Myouga in the process.

"I am _not, _Miroku-sama, so don't believe anything you might hear." Kagome gathered the remnants of her dignity, shrugged her bow all the way back onto her shoulder and turned to go downstairs.

"Of course not, Kagome-sama," Miroku replied blandly, and she dared to hope for a second that she might actually escape without further incident—until he continued innocently, "If I may be so bold, though, I daresay you might want to leave Inuyasha's clothing up here. Otherwise the servants may have reason to wonder why you're wearing it, blood and all—spoils of war, perhaps?"

* * *

Shippou waylaid her just outside the room with a tearful whine of "Kaaaagomee-ee!" and a direct leap into her arms.

"Hey, Shippou-chan," she whispered, patting the kit soothingly and shifting him more comfortably. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm not hurt, and neither is Inuyasha."

"But you were out all night and Sango was really scared and so was M..." The little boy faltered and buried his tiny nose in her shoulder for a second, snuffling around and looking up curiously. "Kagome? How come you smell like Inuyasha?"

_Aaaaaaaargh. _"He let me borrow his haori 'cause it was cold out," she said truthfully, restraining the urge to ask if everyone in the castle was going to be sewing wedding kimonos by the end of the day. _Hoping the curse gets broken is one thing, but come on!_

"Yeah, it's still awfully cold in here compared to yesterday," Shippou agreed, folding his arms and nodding gravely. Then he sniffed again and ruined the impression of severeness by poking at her right hand urgently. "Kagome? Is that blood?"

"It's Inuyasha's. He got hurt a little, but he's okay now." Kagome flicked his nose very gently when he refused to stop the olfactory scrutiny. "C'mon, let's take a quick bath and get something to eat. Sango-chan probably won't wake up till noon, if she had a dose of that stuff again."

"She was really worried," he repeated, clinging to her shoulder as she entered the room quietly and picked up a long-sleeved shirt and jeans from the stack of clean laundry on the TV box. Sango had fallen asleep on her friend's bed, and Kagome eased the comforter back over her shoulders, guiltily noting the slayer's pale, drawn features.

"Are you sure that's Inuyasha's blood?" the kit asked suddenly as Kagome closed the outer shoji and turned towards footsteps approaching around the corner.

"Hello, Kohaku-kun," she greeted the boy as he hurried up, bowing and glancing past her anxiously. "She's still asleep...what was that, Shippou-chan?"

"It doesn't smell like half-breed blood. It's a lot different." Shippou wrinkled his nose. "It's more like yours, 'cept you're a girl and he only acts like one sometimes."

"Now, now..." Kagome tapped his nose again, unable to suppress a smile despite sudden misgiving at the kit's observation. "It's been on my hand all night, and I'm not a half-breed, am I?"

"Nope. I guess that could be it." Shippou shrugged and, to her great relief, seemed satisfied to leave it at that. "Let's go take a bath now. I'm cold."

"All right." Kagome smiled reassurance at Kohaku, who was frowning at the shoji in obvious worry. "She'll be out for a few more hours at least at this rate. Could you do me a favor..." She unslung the bow. "Go upstairs and grab a quiver with some arrows I left on the third floor – Miroku-sama probably has them – and then put these outside with your weapons?"

"He carries his all the time anyway," Shippou remarked, and Kagome noticed that the boy did indeed have his chain sickle stashed at the small of his back.

"It's all right. I'll be glad to help," Kohaku said quickly, accepting the bow with a small bow. "Please tell me when she wakes?"

"Of course. And we'll have to play cards again later tonight—I could even teach you all a new game." That had the desired effect – a shy smile – and she thanked him again as he took off for the stairs at a trot.

"You're really nice to everyone," Shippou remarked as they lounged in the deserted baths a few minutes later. "It's kinda weird."

"Is it?" Kagome plucked him out of the water and settled him onto her knee, bouncing him a few times the way she'd used to do with Souta when he was small enough.

"Uh huh. The other lady never was. I don't think she knew how." Shippou giggled and nearly slid off as she protested with another bounce. "Well, humans always think they have to be serious for people to listen to 'em. Lots of demons do, too, now that I think about it..." The kit shrugged philosophically. "But you're nice to everyone except Inuyasha. I think that's why the servants all like you so much."

"They do?" she couldn't help asking, even as she winced inwardly at his childlike bluntness. "I can be nice to him, too, y'know." _Not that he cares...well, not that he _shows _that he does, anyway._

"Not when he's being stupid." Shippou ended the discussion with a little splash at her, and though the impromptu water war concluded shortly – once they realized how much was going over the sides rather than at each other – Kagome didn't quite feel like bringing it up again. It was nice of the kit to say so, though, especially when she sometimes felt as though she'd been conditioned for several years not to say anything unnecessary and give her sisters any ammunition. _Well, damned if I'm going back to pretending not to be there when I come home!_

_

* * *

_

__

The mental vow failed to make feel much better when Sango woke shortly after lunch, though. Once she assured herself that Kagome was intact, the slayer promptly began taking her apart. "Don't _ever _go out alone like that again!" she snapped, holding Kagome at arm's length from a short hug. "And after a demon, without saying a word to me, or the houshi-sama, or Kohaku?! We're here to protect you, Kagome-chan, and for you to run out to somewhere we can't find you and then stay there the whole night is absolutely idiotic, not to mention your lack of consideration for our feelings! What were you thinking?!" Sango gave her a little shake, rattling her teeth. "Promise me you will _never _do that again!"

Head spinning, Kagome apologized and gave a feeble explanation for her sudden exit, cursing her promise to keep Inuyasha's secret. _Like she'd do anything to him, or tell anyone who would!_

But keep it she did. Sango was clearly not satisfied, and Kagome was all too glad to excuse herself to go locate the garbage bags the wolves had brought, stashed away in one of the outside sheds, while she persuaded the slayer to go and make sure her brother knew she was awake. _Thank God for ibuprofen. I'm gonna need three more bottles at this rate, and that's if I don't share with Sango...if she doesn't kill me first._

She swallowed two dry and sank to the cold dirt floor with a long sigh. _Man, my head...that's right, I have to talk to Kaede. And tell Sango first. _Ignoring her head's dull, steady pounding, she took one step outside and shivered as a cold gust whipped her hair back. _Geez, what a mess. I hope Inuyasha's happy._

_

* * *

_

__

Inuyasha was _not_ happy.

Miroku's blithe comment had still been gnawing at him that morning when the monk opened the shoji long enough to toss his haori in, and when Inuyasha figured out where he had to have gotten it, his mood had taken a turn for the deadly. Eventually he gave up the idea of tearing his room apart for the fifth time (or was it the sixth now?), willed the last tatami mat to unshred itself and headed for the practice room, as much to reassure himself that Tetsusaiga would still respond as to work off steam.

Though he had no trouble getting his sword to transform – he'd found that it did so at will after that encounter with the wolf lord – his frustration needed a greater outlet; for the first time he could remember, he was sorry Kouga wasn't around: he could've used a good fight. _I took out enough trees the other day, too. Dammit!_

Thus he kept at it all morning, not stopping for lunch and only allowing himself a brief rest in the afternoon when Miroku came by with a bundle of steamed dumplings. "Sango-sama is quite upset with Kagome-sama, you know" were the first words out of his mouth.

"Why the hell would I need to know that?" Inuyasha snapped, eyeing the food resentfully as Miroku selected a dumpling and took a large bite.

"You don't." The monk set the bundle down and knelt a safe distance away, finishing the dumpling in two more bites. "And Kagome-sama is speaking with Kaede now. From what little I could sense, she seems quite exhausted."

"Why wouldn't she be? She's all but a dried-up old husk." Inuyasha was losing the battle to pretend he didn't want any food, but distraction presented itself momentarily as Miroku's staff connected with his head yet again. "OW! That's _it_! I'm gonna take that thing and put it so far up your—"

"I meant that Kagome-sama is exhausted, you cretin," Miroku said coolly, selecting another dumpling with thinly veiled impatience. "I don't know what possessed you to be so badly caught off guard, but she obviously saved your life, and yet you sulk as though she's told everyone that you drool in your sleep."

"That was only once, bouzu! And..."

"And nothing." Miroku took one more dumpling and got up, leaving the rest of the food untouched. "Kaede will know better than I, but I expect Kagome-sama will be feeling the effects of her expenditure soon enough, and if you continue to nurse your wounded pride instead of considering _her _feelings, I will advise her that she'd be cared for better with Kouga."

"G...f..." Various phrases struggled to make it past Inuyasha's lips, but he could only sputter a feeble "..._you!" _as the monk left the room, closing the shoji with a pointed click. _Bastard's always getting after _me _for slamming 'em...!_

Once he'd polished off the dumplings, angrily cramming them into his mouth and ruminating on what exactly he was going to do with that damned staff if the monk misused it one more time, Inuyasha picked the Tetsusaiga up and tried to think of more ways to train by himself. _Used up all of them already, and I'm sick of repeating the same damn forms over and over..._

The sword seemed to grow cooler in his hand, and he gripped it tighter, glaring at his father's fang. "What, are you gonna get after me, too?" he snapped, smirking slightly as it didn't respond. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

...And all at once it occurred to him that he was gloating over having told his _sword _off, and he slammed it point-first into the floor, slumping over in defeat. "Gods, I'm pathetic," he mumbled at the tatami. It wasn't Kagome's fault he'd gotten caught just as his demon blood receded and left him defenseless, and it wasn't her fault that Kikyou was trying to convince them that he'd murdered her.

_Not only that, she defended you...against Kikyou, too... based on just your word, and she saved your worthless life, cried for you and only got angry at you for not taking care of yourself, after the way you've gotten her tangled up in all this shit and treated her like it was all her fault...want to keep going?_

"No," Inuyasha mumbled aloud, head sinking onto his chest in misery. _I killed Kikyou...not the way she's saying, but whatever happened, it was my fault. And now I'm... _

He couldn't bear to finish that thought, but he didn't need to.

His sensitive ears barely caught the soft scrape of the shoji sliding open. Inuyasha was so absorbed in his self-recrimination that a quiet cough from the doorway scared him half to death. "Son of a...! Don't _do _that!" He leaped to his feet.

"Sorry." Kagome smiled wanly and coughed again, and guilt rose afresh as he realized she hadn't just been trying to get his attention. "Miroku said you've been in here all day. I wanted to make sure—"

"That I was okay, right? I'm _fine._" Inuyasha grabbed Tetsusaiga and sheathed it angrily. "You wanna eat now?"

"If you do," she said quietly, watching him in concern as he pulled his kimono back up and began to resettle his haori. She'd expected him to still be a little pissed, but this was a little much, even for Inuyasha.

"Quit giving me that look, b—wench. I said I'm fine." He jerked the last fold into place and strode out into the corridor. "I'll go order some food. Go make yourself comfy and don't get up."

"I can go get it if you w—"

"I _said, _go! You look like sh—" He bit his tongue so fast that it almost bled. "You look bad. Just...just go wait for me."

"Fine," she said tightly, with a trace more of her usual self. "I'll be in the usual place. Being comfy. And looking like _sh_." She ducked around him and marched to the dining room, refusing to slam the shoji, closing it instead with exaggerated care.

_I swear to God he has the emotional intelligence of a dead fish! _Once in the room, Kagome was too angry to kneel, preferring to pace instead. _I try to be _nice_, and look what happens! _"Maybe I should just give him the silent tr..." Another cough broke her off, deeper and raspier than before. _Aw, dammit..._

Inuyasha returned in record time to find her kneeling, hands folded in lap and face studiously averted. "Got food," he said lamely, setting the table himself for the first time, and she wondered if he even noticed he was doing it. He certainly seemed preoccupied, darting glances at her as he poured tea for her first, then sake for himself.

_I'll be damned. Serving, and me first? He really _is _sorry. Again. _Amusement and affection thawed her anger out a little. _Jerk or not, you can see right through him. _"Thank you," she said aloud, sipping her tea and keeping her eyes downcast as he glanced up again. _And if I know Miroku, he probably gave him a good reaming before I came in..._

"So what'd the hag say?" Inuyasha toyed with his rice, only plowing in when she answered noncommittally.

"Well, she says I'm drained down to my toenails, pretty much, and I can't use any power for anything for another week at the very, very least." Kagome tried, with limited success, to hold in another cough. Her headache hadn't quite gone away, either. "She also asked me to ask you if you've done anything with the barriers around the castle since I got here."

"No. Why?" Inuyasha was glad for the change of subject; he hadn't expected her to talk about herself much, but a very selfish part of him was glad she'd moved on anyway.

"She thought it was weird that the boundary near the shrine keeps changing depth, she said..." She got another cough out discreetly. "And that you haven't put up any demon wards. I thought you had, too, but the wolves, and..."

"Feh. Never got around to it." He took another sip and refilled his cup, wondering if he should offer her some to help with that cough. "When we were all asleep, there were three wards up: one to keep out humans, one to keep out demons of any strength, and one really weird one that made this place invisible to everywhere else around it. That one's still up, and so is the human one, but the demon one kinda fell apart."

"So how'd my dad get in here?" Kagome wondered aloud, and groaned inwardly as he scowled. _What now? _

"I don't know how he found it in the first place," Inuyasha admitted after a few seconds of dense silence. "But when I sensed him stumbling around, I figured I'd better bring his sorry ass inside before he froze and I had to deal with his ghost wandering around, not to mention the body."

"Thanks again for that," Kagome said softly. Then, before he could get more embarrassed and crabby, she coughed – not that she had to force it – and continued. "Are you going to put the demon one back up?"

"Maybe. Probably not. Too much effort, and besides, word'll get out soon enough about what happened to the spider. The wind should've scattered the ashes by now. That plus those damn wolves hanging around will keep the small fry away, and the big ones know better than to mess with me. Sounds like Fluffy's still around somewhere..." He drained his cup.

"Your brother? But that spider said it was trying to kill you because of him," Kagome pointed out.

"Nope. The spider thought Fluffy would want to see me dead, which is probably about right, but I know that arrogant prick, and he'd be _really _pissed if anyone but—" His voice dropped several octaves, in a mocking, almost croak-like drawl. "_Awour exhaalted faaaahthah..." _He grimaced and spoke normally. "...if anyone but Dad or him killed me, and Dad kicked it a while back."

Kagome almost choked on her tea at the impression. "He sounds like _that_?"

"Like a bored frog who looks like a woman and has a stick so far up his ass he can't even walk right? Something like that."

His smirk faded as her laughter died down and she began coughing again.

"I'm fine," Kagome rasped, flapping a hand impatiently at him. "But anyway, you're saying that spider was 'small fry'? Are you _sure _you don't..." Her voice died, and Inuyasha scowled in concern as she drank the rest of her tea. "...don't want to put up a barrier for demons? It'd be safer that way."

"And have the wimpy wolf bitch at me for keeping his lackeys out? I think not. Plus, it takes up a lot of power, and I can handle any demons that might take a swipe at us again. It won't be a problem."

Kagome flushed slightly at the 'us' and looked down at her cup. "Are you sure? I mean..."

"It'll be fine," he said tersely, and her headache intensified.

"If you say so." She smiled slightly despite the pain. _And if you're obviously too nice to separate Kouga from his pack members, or if you don't want to draw from where Kikyou is..._

She paused. Was that what had been bothering him all day, and not their little adventure with the spider? _That's right, we had that huge fight about what Kikyou said, and that was why we weren't speaking up till yesterday. _No wonder he was so edgy.

"What's that look for?" he snapped as she glanced up.

"Nothing. Ah..." Kagome swallowed. "You know, if you want to talk about anything..."

"_Leave me alone_." The three words seemed to run her straight through, and she flinched violently. The movement somehow set up another cough, which quickly degenerated into a prolonged series of dry hacking when she tried to excuse herself.

"That is _it._" Inuyasha glared at her food – she realized with dim surprise that she hadn't even looked at it the whole time – and got to his feet angrily.

"Sorry," she wheezed, regretting the fact that she was now probably getting her germs all over the room but annoyed at his attitude. _Does he think I _wanted _to get sick? Hope these guys don't catch it..._

"Why are _you _apologizing? I'm the reason you spent all your energy and then slept outside, not to mention why it was cold in the first place, remember?" Inuyasha swept the dishes onto the table and pushed it aside.

As she processed the fact that he was only mad at himself and worried about her, Kagome felt her vision blur slightly and closed her eyes against her brain's efforts to jump straight out her forehead. _Ow ow ow ow ow...oh!_

"Ask," she muttered, and felt one hand steady her as she began coughing again. Something warm pressed against her cheek, and she opened her eyes with some difficulty. _Back of his hand. Knew he'd use it one of these days. _She fought the impulse to giggle: no need to act delusional.

"You're sick, you idiot. Quit trying to talk." Inuyasha unwrapped his haori and draped it around her. "Maybe it'll work this time."

"The haori, or talking?" Kagome kept her eyes open despite their insistence that they were going to pop out from brain pressure at this rate. _Owwww. _"C'mon, ask so you can sleep."

"While you're like this? You were more reliable when you were drunk."

Irritation and surprise as he easily scooped her up gave her enough strength to push against his chest and lean away a little. "I was _not _reliable then, thank you! Now ask me so we can go to bed!...Separately!"

There was a moment of silence. Inuyasha visibly struggled, then decided to let it pass. "Fine, wench. Will you marry me?"

"Nuh-uh, I won't marry you. I'm not _that _sick." She launched into another coughing fit of epic proportions.

He let that one slide, too. "Fine. Can you handle a shortcut?"

"...Maybe."

"Feh." Inuyasha nudged the shoji open with one foot. "This seems familiar."

"Mmmphow." Kagome shivered in the castle's cold air and huddled against him. "Wh'nt you ch'rup?"

"I don't 'cheer up,'" he replied succinctly, but heaved a sigh as she pulled the haori tighter. "Fine, fine, I owe you that much. I'll think happy thoughts of killing wolves and Fluffy tonight. Okay?"

"M'kay." Kagome shut her eyes as he leapt down to the second and then first floors.

"You all right?" he asked.

Eyes still squeezed shut, she shook her head rapidly. "Gonna puke."

"Shit!" Throwing propriety to wherever the hell it went in medical and hygienic emergencies, Inuyasha looked around wildly, remembered that her room had no place for it, and made an adrenaline-fueled single leap upward, straight back to his room, ignoring a strangled, muffled cry of "Y'dumbaff!" from his front, throwing the shoji back open and making a beeline for his room, where he grabbed the empty one of two basins against the wall and thrust it under her head just in time.

"What kind of person," she croaked two messy, disgusting minutes later, "carries a sick person _up _and _down _three floors in ten seconds when she _just said _she's about to throw up?"

"Someone who knows she's gonna lose it anyway and might as well do it someplace warm, with something to lose it _in_, where the servants can't see." Inuyasha came back from the window – he had flung the entire basin, contents et al, out into the courtyard for some hapless servant to clean up in the morning – and bent over to lift her head again. He hadn't complained during the process and had made sure she was comfortable, and she was more than a little grateful; his slightly awkward movements as he helped her clean her face touched her more than any expert care she'd ever received.

"I think we're hazardous to each other's health," she whispered, and was alarmed by his brief, haunted look; but it cleared in a moment, and he smirked.

"I think you're right, wench." Inuyasha balled up the soiled cloth they'd been using and threw it neatly out the window. "Just as long as it's nothing permanent, right?"

She managed a weak smile. "Right. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. It's my fault." He lifted her gently from their place near the door and, to her consternation, headed for his futon.

"Inuyasha, what the..." Coughing broke her off yet again, and he snorted.

"I just checked in your room. Some idiot knocked over one of the torches." He restrained her easily as she stiffened and tried to get down. "Calm down, wench, there's no fire or damage, just a lot of smoke. Sango's sleeping with the kid and Shippou's bunking with them. No way in hell you're sleeping in there tonight."

"Yeah, but..." Kagome couldn't hide her unease as Inuyasha set her down gently and moved her legs aside to pull the covers up.

"It's the least I can do, okay? And I'm not trying anything with _you_, and 'specially not when you're sick." Mindful of his claws, he pulled the covers into place and got up. "I can sleep outside tonight. The weather doesn't bug me."

"It's too cold!" Kagome pushed herself up, suppressing more coughing and telling her brain rather sternly to get its metaphoric ass back in her skull. "If you wanna be macho that badly, then sleep in here against the wall or something, or with Miroku."

"Bouzu snores." Inuyasha pulled the screens over the window and tied it off, using the sides of his fingertips in evidently long-practiced compensation for his claws. Kagome wished heartily that her head would stay in one piece so she could appreciate it more: with the torchlight and all, Inuyasha actually looked quite spiffy. "I'll stay in here, then. Night, wench."

She watched, blinking, as he blew out the last light, and listened to him pad across the room to settle down against the wall. "You don't need any covers?"

"I said, night, wench."

She replied with more hacking, culminating in an extended attempt to speak that was hampered by her sand-dry throat. A short, impatient sigh reached her ears, and she heard him get up. _Good, maybe he'll sleep somewhere else and let me cough as much as—_

"Here, wench." His voice next to the futon scared her half to death. "Don't move, or I might jab you by accident." Kagome let him pull her into a sitting position very slowly, then sensed movement next to her face. "Got some water. It's to your right and up, and if you spill it, I'm not getting you more blankets."

The note of impatience made her feel better – nice as he was acting, it was good to know he was still himself – and though she had a feeling he'd do pretty much anything at this point if she really needed it, she drank the water and kept it down without major incident. "Thanks," she whispered again, a little stronger this time as he eased her back down and went back to the other basin, drinking some himself by the sound of it.

He grunted and made his way back to the wall, settling down with a thump. "Now, you ready to sleep, or what?"

"I have to pee." To her disbelief, he grunted again and got up. "I'm _kidding, _you doofus! Good night!"

"Serves you right," he mumbled as her laughter turned into coughing yet again. "So, you feel any better?"

"Yeah...do you?"

Inuyasha started. "...Yeah, I think I do." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Just as long as you keep your lunch where it's supposed to be next time."

"Sure, as long as you don't fling me all over the place when my stomach's inside out already. Good night."

"As long as you don't get sick in the first place. Good night."

"As long as you cheer up and quit blaming yourself for everything. Good night."

"...As long as you don't give me advice when you don't know what you're talking about."

"You forgot to say 'good night.'"

"So?!"

"So you lose."

"I lose _what_?"

"Mmm, I dunno. I'll decide tomorrow."

"You're _weird_. Have I ever told you that?"

"I aim to please."

"That made no sense."

"Then my job here is done."

"...I'm going to pretend we never had this conversation. Good night."

"That's what you always do anyw—" Coughing.

"See, now _you _lose."

"Lose what?"

"..."

"Quit beating yourself up. Good night, Inuyasha."

"...Good night, Kagome."

She was asleep before she could think of anything else to say.

* * *

A/N: See, me, that wasn't so bad...if you just get started, you can crank out 16 pages in one all-nighter and all 3 of your loyal readers won't be clamoring for your blood.

Well, remember the next-in-three-days deal? It's also good for this week...except make it five or six days. (ducks) I have school! And lots of it! Mercy! Mercy! Anyway...yeah. Muchas apologies for lateness. I'm going to upload and sleep now before it's time to do stuff. Stupid stuff...


	19. Sickness and Recuperation

Disclaimer: I'm not gaining anything from my use of these characters except reviews and loss of sleep. Mmmmm. Cherry Blow-Pop. (Which is not mine, either...my friend gave a bag of 'em to me.)

A/N: Hidey-ho, more-than-3 loyal readers. I be back again with another chapter, as you probably have figured out by now. Right. I'm going to start now before I alienate anyone else...

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 19**

Gentle premonition prodded Kagome out of sleep very early the next morning. It was nothing like the _really _bad feelings she'd had before certain _really _bad things happened; in fact, it was almost like detached anticipation. _Maybe it's because I have to go to the bathroom... _She burrowed deeper under the covers, shifting the thick layers around to get comfortable. Aside from a very slight headache and a weird stiffness around her midsection, she felt much better, and it occurred to her as she sat up gingerly and rubbed one eye that Inuyasha must be, too. _It's barely even cool any more, and it was about to snow last night..._

The feeling returned again, a little stronger, and Kagome glanced around reflexively. "Inuyasha?" Her voice was a bit unsteady, but as long as she didn't push it, she judged, the cough might not come back. "Inuyasha?" she called, louder, suppressing the itchiness that rose in her throat. _Damn. Spoke too soon. Literally._

Where was he? The room was empty, and the light around the edges of the window covering was very weak. _Crap. _She couldn't go to sleep with that sense of anticipation nagging at her. Maybe... "Miroku-sama?"

No answer from the next room. Kagome scowled and sank back into the futon, pulling the covers up just over her nose and wondering idly if Inuyasha was getting breakfast. _He's always up before me, so I dunno. Why hasn't Sango come up yet? She's always up at the butt-crack of dawn._

A single piercing scream from the floorboards beneath the futon had Kagome up and stumbling to her feet instantly; violent dizziness sent her back to the futon on her rear as gravity got the best of her. "Hello?" she called feebly, knowing she was about as helpful as a blind, deaf and lame guard dog in her current state, but determined to do something as the scream continued, rose and abruptly died.

"Kagome-sama?" A light appeared through the shoji to her right. Miroku came in with a small covered lantern and bowed awkwardly, blinking with fatigue and smoothing the front of his white sleeping kimono. "Are you all right? Do you sense anything?"

"I'm fine, Miroku-sama," she replied, grateful that he was too sleepy to make any sideways remarks about her presence. "And...this might sound funny, but..." Kagome smiled and half-shrugged. "I don't think anything's wrong, for once. Why don't you go check on it?"

"Not while Inuyasha's out. He 'requested' I stay and make sure you didn't wake before he came back." Miroku yawned into his cursed hand.

"Let me guess—those were his exact words?" He nodded, and Kagome couldn't stifle a giggle despite her voice's scratchiness. "What are you supposed to do now that I have? Knock me out?"

The monk chuckled and settled down at a polite distance from the futon, back to the door. "No more talking at the very least lest you get sick again and Inuyasha takes my head off."

Kagome nodded obediently, and Miroku's eyes lit up mid-yawn. "Oh! Saki – one of the servants – is with child. That might have been her just now."

Kagome started to speak, but closed her jaws at his warning look. She made a scribbling motion on her palm, and the monk quickly retrieved a small scroll, brush and ink from his room. Kagome smiled her thanks and, dipping the brush carefully into the ink lest she waste what was probably a limited supply, began to write neatly in the lantern's flickering light.

"'Not her first?'...No, she has three other children. Have you seen them?"

More writing. "'No, just had a feeling.'" Miroku quirked an eyebrow. "Even after slaying that demon, your senses seem quite sharp. Many priestesses have acute instincts when it comes to others, especially expectant women... 'No'? And why not? Your normal senses work without any apparent effort on your part, do they not? Why not, say, your sense of empathy?" He smiled as she considered it and then bobbed her head in dubious agreement. "Tell me, do you expect a boy or a girl?" He watched the brush, eyebrows rising again. "...Twins, you think? Good heavens...and what genders? ...I know you're not a performing monkey, Kagome-sama. I merely wish to see if you're accurate, and if not, I swear no word of it will escape me... Two girls? There's trouble enough for four mothers there..."

Another scream made the brush jerk across the page and onto the floor, and Kagome forced herself to relax as Miroku dabbed at it and the noise rose, unending. "Almost done," she whispered, Miroku nodding as he read her lips.

Idly, as Miroku excused himself and opened the window covering to let in a pleasantly cool breeze, Kagome wondered if Inuyasha knew what was happening downstairs. _He can hear well enough...can probably smell it, too. He's probably seen enough of them around the place before not to freak out. I'll give him the benefit of a doubt for now._

_

* * *

_

"Inuyasha, calm _down_."

"It sounds like someone's murdering her!" Inuyasha shot back, glaring over Sango's shoulder towards the servants' wing on the ground floor. "Are you sure everything's normal?"

"Saki-san just went into labor late last night, and her last birth took less than twelve hours," Sango repeated, moving to block him lest he decide to go investigate and make a huge mess of things. "If you just let them take care of her, it'll be over soon, most likely."

"How soon?" Inuyasha crossed his arms.

"I don't know! Not even Kaede does." The old priestess was acting as midwife, and Sango knew Inuyasha would have no compunction about going in to interrogate her about what was happening right that minute. "Weren't you here the last time, when Yoko-san gave birth?"

"Mom always made me stay away when someone was about to whelp," he snapped. "And now I know why." He craned his neck around for another look. "It sounds like she's being tortured in there. What the hell is that smell? Are you sure we shouldn't—hey!"

Sango had asked herself what Kagome would do in this situation and accordingly grabbed his sleeve, dragging him down the hall and away. "Come down to the kitchens and we'll _talk_, you ignorant clod," she griped, praying he wouldn't try to free himself. Several other servants were hurrying back and forth with fresh linens and water, and she'd never forgive herself if Inuyasha managed to get in anyone's way with his questions. Impossible as many of the castle's other residents were, she liked Saki and pitied her timing: the woman had arrived at the castle with her children, widowed and seven months pregnant, less than two weeks before Kikyou died.

Mercifully, Inuyasha only offered token resistance as she herded him into a small dining room near the kitchens and made him _stay _before bringing some miso and rice back. "Just how much food do we have left?" Sango asked as it occurred to her.

"Enough, and it's kept fresh enough." Inuyasha barely waited for her to finish pouring his tea before he grabbed the cup and sipped impatiently. "So, why the hell does she have to do that _now_?"

"Women don't choose when they go into labor," Sango said with equal impatience, taking a small portion of miso and dunking small chunks of rice into it for each bite.

"I know _that_. But couldn't she wait till everyone's awake, at least?" Inuyasha drummed his claws on the tatami.

"Awake?" Sango paused mid-dunk. "Don't tell me you're posturing because you're angry with her for disturbing Kagome-ch—"

"Keh! Don't be stupid." Inuyasha did not look up. "I know a little about women, but I never figured out why they have to yell so much, or why they always have to give birth in the morning."

"They can't help the pain, and they can't help when it happens." Sango willed herself not to strangle him with his own hair. _How does Kagome-chan put up with him? _"Can _you _help being hungry, or yawning when you're tired? It's much the same."

Inuyasha grunted, and Sango went back to eating with a shrug.

"Does it always happen like that? Nothing to do for the pain or the stink?" he asked a few minutes later, out of the blue.

"Yes, and no. I'm not much of an expert like Kaede..." Sango refilled her miso. "But as far as I know, with some variation from woman to woman, the pain and the...process...tend to be fairly universal. There's not much to be done for it."

"Glad I don't have to worry about that," Inuyasha mumbled into his bowl.

"As well you should be," Sango mumbled back.

There was another brief pause, and Inuyasha caught himself wondering if Kagome was awake yet. _Maybe I'd better make Sango take her some...nah, I'll take her some breakfast later. If she can keep it down. _He wrinkled his nose at the thought of her being sick again. _No fun for her, or for my nose._

"Do you mind if I ask you something?"

Inuyasha was instantly on his guard. "What?"

"Do you..." Sango stared at her hands. "Do you...never mind."

"Does this have something to do with the bouzu?" He rolled his eyes as she flushed and shook her head. "Don't give me that. Kagome told me what happened."

"She told you?" Sango sounded hurt. "I thought she would've had more respect for us than that."

"She was worried about you, and it looks like she was right," Inuyasha said curtly. "If it makes you happy, she was probably more upset about it than you were."

"What do _you _care?" Sango shot back, stung.

"Don't give me that crap!" They glared at each other across the little table. It was rather like being at dinner...except that arguing with _this _woman was just annoying. Not that Sango was stupid, he had to admit, but somehow, Kagome just kept him on his toes better. Much better.

"Look," he said irritably, "even I noticed something was going on, whether you like it or not, and watching you guys is like being at a sumo match where no one ever makes a move. It's boring and frustrating as hell."

"He moved, all right," she snapped, nearly doing the same to her chopsticks. "What am I supposed to do now, shove him out of the ring and sit on him?"

"Why not?" Inuyasha smirked at her sudden flush. "Not like he'd object."

"But he already told me he—"

"Look, Sango, this isn't a big, complicated decision. Either you do, or you don't." Inuyasha returned his attention to his food.

"It _isn't complicated?_ Are you even remotely serious?" Sango looked ready to throw the bowl, or possibly the table, right at his head.

"You do, or you don't. If you wanna get into a big, complicated, drawn-out whine-fest about his hand and his perversion and blah blah blah, go talk to Kagome. Just not till she's better," Inuyasha added as an afterthought.

"Better...? Then she really did spend the night...?" Sango blinked owlishly. "My. No wonder you're giving _me _that kind of advice now."

_Damn the servants! _"Shut up! She just slept up there 'cause she was too busy turning inside out to move. It was disgusting, but if I'd tried to kick her out, she probably woulda just puked on me and then stayed anyway." Inuyasha shoveled the last of his rice down. "'Sides, I'd have told you the same thing no matter what happened. It pisses me off, seeing you and him moping around like a couple of kids who think they can't have any candy and forgot they just have to take it."

"Aren't you full of wisdom all of a sudden." Sango set her dishes down. "I'll think about it. In the meantime, I'm going to go see Kagome-chan."

"Don't bother. She's probably not awake yet, and if she is, she needs to eat and go back to sleep." Inuyasha brushed a stray grain of rice off his sleeve and got up.

Sango resisted a Kagome-like urge to make a clucking noise. _He's turned into quite the mother hen already. I'll have to remember to tell her about it later. _"I'm coming up to see her anyway," she said firmly. "I should apologize for the way I treated her yesterday. I thought she seemed unwell, but it didn't occur to me that she was really sick."

"You humans and your crappy senses." He regretted it almost the instant it came out, for various reasons, and thought it best not to elaborate as Sango, glowering, cleaned up the rest of their dishes and went back to the kitchens.

Despite his injunction, Inuyasha made no protest when Sango asked him to wait, and not just because she brought food back with her. _Both of 'em'll bug me if they don't get to talk. Plus it'll keep the bouzu happy. _He made a face as they walked towards the stairs, ignoring servants' bows and murmured greetings. Only Sango noticed a few of them smirking or trading disgusted looks in their wake.

"Girls!"

The shout from down the hall brought both their heads around. A boy of about twelve or thirteen skidded around the corner and nearly barreled straight into Inuyasha. "What was that?" he asked coldly as the boy flailed his arms, skidding to a stop and dropping to his knees.

"My mother, Inuyasha-sama," the boy panted, too excited to be afraid. "Two girls, a little apart but alive and well!"

"That's wonderful," Sango said warmly, and he nodded, happily flushed.

"Well, if you have to run around, do it outside, and no yelling." Inuyasha jerked his head towards the door. The boy hesitated only a moment before nodding again, mumbling his thanks and running for the doors, bellowing the good news at the top of his cracking voice.

"Idiot," Inuyasha muttered as they ascended the first flight.

"He has two new sisters, Inuyasha," Sango pointed out. "A birth is very exciting, especially when your siblings are concerned. I was thrilled when my mother had Kohaku." She grimaced. _Of course, we were less than thrilled when she died of milk fever two days later. _But Sango had never held it against her little brother; as a trained fighter, she'd learned very early and very thoroughly that death was part of life. Though she still missed their mother acutely, she was grateful Kohaku was still with her, at least.

The sudden recollection that their father and the rest of the village must be centuries dead by now...well, she would gain nothing by dwelling on that.

"I wouldn't know." Inuyasha stopped at the top of the stairs. "...Mind if I ask you something kinda personal?"

"Personal? Such as...?" Sango's curiosity was aroused: she'd never heard Inuyasha _ask_ if he could do anything before, much less if he could ask for an opinion.

"...Well, you're a woman...close enough...d'you really think it's worth all the pain and screaming and stinking? To have kids, I mean."

The slayer blinked at him. She hadn't been expecting _that_. "Well, I wouldn't do it for just anyone, but with...the right person, I suppose it could be worth it." She shrugged uneasily, forcing her voice – and thoughts – to stay level. "I wasn't raised just to have children like most women, but my father always told me that going through with it was more trouble than fighting a dragon, and if I ever did, I'd need to make sure I had a worthy partner."

"Makes sense, I guess." Inuyasha set off again abruptly.

_What was that all about? _Sango wondered. _Curiosity from the birth? _She shrugged and followed him. _I'll ask Kagome-chan later. She would know._

Inuyasha hid it fairly well, but the thought of anyone he cared about going through what he'd just heard and smelled made him feel downright ill. _To think Kikyou would've done that if we'd had kids... _He frowned slightly. _I guess there's a silver lining right there. I never would've touched her if I knew what would come of it._

He almost stopped at that thought. _...Well, maybe not. Damn, I don't know. But that's not a decision I have to make anymore, at least..._

"I hope Kagome-chan isn't up yet." Sango's voice shattered his uneasy reverie.

"What? Oh, yeah." He shook himself. "Yeah, she needs to sleep. She's been through a lot of crap the past coupla days."

"Not anymore," Sango said firmly as they crossed the second floor landing and made their way to the stairs. "Kagome-chan has been brave enough already, and it's not fair to put any more stress on her than necessary."

"What, you think I _like _making her suffer?" Sango started at the edge to his voice. "Just keep your voice down, don't make her talk, and remember she's sick and doesn't need any..." A sound from overhead brought him up short. "Was that what I thought it was?"

"It sounded like Kagome-chan yelling." They looked at each other blankly, then, as one, charged up the long staircase, Sango only a breath behind the hanyou as he sped down the hall, ripped open the shoji and flung open the last one to his room.

Kagome was alternately coughing and trying to give Miroku a noogie, leaning over precariously as he easily dodged her assaults. "Cheater!" she panted, brandishing a torn scroll with odd lines drawn on it and symbols scattered within the lines.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Inuyasha stalked over and snatched at the paper, getting ink on his claws and glaring as the monk freed himself and gently supported Kagome back to the futon.

"Taught...tic-tac-toe," she wheezed, gasping for breath and pawing the covers aside.

"What in the world...?" Sango set the food down and knelt next to her friend. "You're sweating, Kagome-chan."

"Kagome-sama was kind enough to instruct me in this era's recreation to pass the time," Miroku said with utmost dignity, snatching the half-scroll from Inuyasha and placing it carefully on the floor. Sango scowled at him and began unpacking the box.

"How the hell does some retarded, pointless line game turn into a wrestling match? And what were _you _doing letting her crawl all over you?" Inuyasha snarled at the monk.

"Excuse you!" Kagome propped herself on one elbow and spoke in an angry, raspy whisper. "He cheated, and I had to pay him back. It's a rule my brothers and I always followed, and I was _not _crawling on him, you jealous freak!"

"I did not cheat," Miroku protested.

"I am _not _jealous!" Inuyasha snarled.

"You're not well," Sango said worriedly.

Kagome rolled her eyes and melodramatically flopped onto her back, yanking the top cover over her face. Then she pulled it down to her chin thoughtfully. "How's Saki doing?"

Slayer and hanyou stared at her. "How'd you know?" Sango asked.

"Tell us," Miroku interjected as Kagome began to speak, "did she have twins?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha said cautiously. "What, did you hear the dumbass yelling?"

"The boy wasn't shouting loudly enough to be heard up _here, _even from outside," Sango pointed out.

"I see." Miroku smiled at Kagome, who pulled the covers up to her eyes and crossed them. "Charming. Now, Sango-sama, do the twins happen to be both female?"

"That's correct," she said slowly. Kagome promptly flipped the blankets over her head entirely.

"Now, now, Kagome-sama. There's nothing wrong at all. In fact, you know now that your senses are working correctly again already. Very impressive." Miroku smiled reassurance at the head-lump under the covers.

"You mean she...?" Sango trailed off as Miroku produced the other half of the scroll for her and Inuyasha to read. "She knew already?"

"Before the second girl was even born." Miroku nodded. "She seems reluctant to acknowledge the ability."

"Don't need more superpowers," they heard her croak from under the covers.

"It's a gift, Kagome-chan. You should be happy to be able to sense things so easily." Sango tugged lightly at the cover. "Now, come out and eat."

Kagome made a face but obediently came out and accepted a small cup. "Thanks."

"No talking." Inuyasha settled down next to the futon. "So, you well enough to move? As in, out of here? Sango, how's her room?"

"The smoke seems to have cleared out, though it still smells," she answered, frowning as Kagome began to cough lightly. "Are you all right, Kagome-chan?"

Kagome nodded and picked up her chopsticks, eating a few careful bites of rice, then putting it down and shaking her head.

"You're not hungry, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked solicitously. "Perhaps something thinner, less difficult to eat?"

"She needs to eat actual food, bouzu," Inuyasha snapped. "If you baby her, she's just gonna stay sick longer."

"But if she can't eat at all, there's no point trying to force her, is there?" Sango indicated the heaped rice bowl. "Fluids are better anyway. I'll go get some—"

"She'll eat it when she gets hungry enough. Don't bother," Inuyasha interrupted carelessly.

Kagome glared at him. _What am I, a disobedient cat! Just starve me long enough and I'll stop being picky? You...!_

"You don't have to be cruel about it, Inuyasha. We're trying to _help_ her, remember?" Sango said pointedly.

"Why not compromise? Soup for now, and she can have rice when some of her strength has returned," Miroku suggested, and Kagome seriously began to consider making a sign on one of the scroll halves: _I'M STILL HERE!_

"I think that's the best idea," Sango agreed. "Don't give me that look, Inuyasha. You were dead set on taking care of her before we came up, and now you're acting like she's doing it to annoy you!"

"Shut up!"

They all waited expectantly, but Inuyasha's mouth seemed to be out of ideas, and he glared at them defiantly as the silence lengthened. "What?"

Kagome made an angry noise and grabbed the less scribbled-upon half-scroll. Sango read aloud as she and Miroku watched the small, violent strokes. " 'Sango-chan, could you give me a lift downstairs?'...Are you sure, Kagome-chan?... 'Anything to get out of His Majesty's idiot presence'..."

As one the three looked at Inuyasha, who snorted and moved closer to the futon. "Fine, wench, if you want out of here that much, I can—"

Kagome actually managed to growl at him, and he stopped mid-sentence, shrinking as she threw the covers off and shakily got to her feet.

"Be careful, Kagome-chan!" Sango leapt to her assistance and turned around, crouching. "Here, let me carry you down to our room. Inuyasha won't bother you in there. Isn't that right, houshi-sama?"

"Of course," Miroku said loudly, rapping Inuyasha smartly on the head with his knuckles as he started to protest. "I shall ensure that he remains on his best behavior for the duration of your illness, Kagome-sama."

"Thanks," Kagome whispered, linking her arms carefully around her friend's shoulders. Sango picked her up and took a few steps with no difficulty.

"I'll come _alone _later to make sure you're comfortable." Miroku bowed; Sango bowed back for both of them and left the room.

"What the hell was that for?" Inuyasha complained.

"You seem intent upon destroying everything that might possibly do you some good." Miroku picked up the papers, brush and ink. "You meant well, I know, as Kagome-sama likely does, but your ways of showing it are less than satisfactory. Now, the way you behaved last night—"

"I can't keep that mushy crap up forever. Besides, she's a lot better now, and I don't want her to think..."

"What? That you care for her? And why not?" The monk returned to his room and slid the shoji closed, but continued speaking as he changed. "Kagome-sama worries about you quite a bit, and for you to be always on your guard around her is unnecessary and abrasive."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? I was just trying to help." Inuyasha straightened the covers absently. For once, Kagome's scent – all over the futon as well as his haori now – only seemed to rebuke him for driving her away.

"You have odd ways of showing it. Simply be more honest with yourself, and permit it to show." Miroku came in, fully dressed, staff clinking gently, and began repacking the box.

"You're a fine one to give me advice about women," Inuyasha sniped. A thought hit him suddenly, and he smirked. "Tell you what, Miroku. If you can solve your own problems first, _then _I'll take your advice."

"My...?" Miroku paused with one foot out of the room. Inuyasha couldn't see his face, but he noted the monk's back straighten, almost defiantly, before Miroku answered. "May I hold you to that?"

"Be my guest."

* * *

Inuyasha didn't quite feel up to going to see Kagome yet by the time the sun was almost directly overhead, and the monk still hadn't come back. _Dammit. Fine, I'll go outside and run around. Might as well get some exercise._

He bypassed the stairs, opting instead for his shortcut, landing on one foot and nearly squashing a woman laden with soiled linens. "Pardon me, Inuyasha-sama," she said coolly, bowing her head. "I did not see you." Her scent changed subtly, indicating disgust and slight fear.

Inuyasha ignored her and made his way through little clumps of women standing around in the wide corridor, gossiping as fast as their lips would move. The ones nearest fell silent and bowed as he passed, but his ears caught even the faintest whispers behind his back, picking up where they'd left off as he walked away. They obviously thought the thin wails coming from Saki's room down at the end of the wing would drown them out.

"...shame, of course, but she's two boys already..."

"True, but it's not as if it really matters if nothing changes in two months, does it?"

Gasps and murmurs of shock. "Be _silent_! You don't know that we won't escape it!"

"Kagome-sama has far too much sense to do it, not to mention good taste. Not like other women he keeps near him..."

Snide laughter. "True. I'd almost say we should send Kagome-sama on her way and let _her _try to fill in for it. She's enough of a head start. Of course, the one to do it actually has to be _female_, though, that could be a problem—"

More laughter. "I was curious when they disappeared two nights ago, but the houshi-sama assured my mother's cousin's daughter's niece that it was just because a demon cornered them—and Kagome-sama was the one who got them out of it!"

Impressed murmurs. "Poor Kagome-sama couldn't have been very happy, stuck with him all night. And now she's ill, I hear?"

"Well, _I_ hear Kagome-sama refused to let Inuyasha near her, and even wanted to be taken back to her own room despite her illness. One hardly knows whether to be distressed or applaud..."

"If you've nothing better to do with your time," Inuyasha said loudly, and the women froze: he'd stopped just around the other corner, out of sight, but well within hearing. "Kagome-sama is ill and needs as much _quiet _as she can get." Fear twinged at his nostrils, and he balled his fists very carefully as the knots dispersed, some women passing him and murmuring apologies. He would _never_ get used to that heavy, sour stench. _I've put up with their crap about Sango, but just let them say one more word about Kagome and me, and I'll... _

Miroku had advised him that there was nothing he could do to remedy their jealous gossip about Sango, and he'd seen the point: defending the slayer – to whom he was _not_ attracted, no matter if she was one of the most beautiful women in the castle, but he saw no reason she should have to put up with the same crap he did – would only reinforce their supposed relationship. It pissed him off, but he and Sango had gotten used to it.

But now, trying to convince each other that Kagome despised him, setting her up as a potential savior and heroine to cheer on against the monstrous, ill-mannered, tainted half-breed whose sins they were all being made to pay for...he found himself grasping Tetsusaiga's hilt a little too hard, and the sword seemed to throb warningly. _Relax. I'm not gonna kill the idiots. They're lying, anyway..._

Doubt prickled his scalp and down the back of his neck. _Right? She said I should sleep inside...not like she refuses to be around me...right?_

That line of thought was no fun. Growling, Inuyasha stamped to the nearest side entrance and paused outside to test the air. The only noteworthy scents nearby were Kirara, patrolling the grounds in her larger form, and old Kaede hobbling back to her shrine.

"Oi!" Inuyasha leapt gracefully over the side and was beside the old priestess in two great bounds. "I need to talk to you."

"I suspected as much. Come." She beckoned him to follow her into her hut, close enough to the shrine to make his ears twitch uncomfortably.

"So the brats are okay?" Inuyasha ignored the cup she set in front of him, scowling to hide his concern as she very slowly sank onto her cushion.

"Aye, and Saki as well. All are in excellent health. The babes were rather quiet for newborns, I might add."

"Good. I like quiet." He fiddled with Tetsusaiga's sheath. "And, uh..."

"Kagome will be fine, so long as she receives proper rest. The toll on her energies was great, but not life-threatening, as it would be for many others...myself included." Kaede blew at the steam rising from her tea. "Ye will know better upon seeing her. So long as she acts herself, there is little to worry about."

"Mmph." Inuyasha stared down at the cup.

Kaede glanced up. "Was there anything else ye wished to ask?"

"...This is gonna sound screwy, I know, but..." Inuyasha raised his crimson eyes. "Is that really your sister out there in the Tree?"

Neither of them imagined a thin, marrow-chilling gust that seethed through the open doorway and faded deftly back into pleasant warmth as Kaede composed herself. "What is it that brings ye to ask?"

Inuyasha studied the floor, one shoulder raised in a listless shrug. "It...doesn't _act _like her. It's saying something I know isn't true."

The air grew heavier, and both raised their heads, waiting, breath held. Gradually the atmosphere relaxed enough for Kaede to speak, albeit very cautiously. "I do not know what happened beyond reports made by servants who deserted and made their way to my village, and thus I only know that she died badly. Perhaps the nature of her death tainted—"

"Is it her, or _not_!" Inuyasha slammed a fist through the raised wooden floor. "I can't take this shit any more! If it's not her, then I know to ignore it! If it is, then...then..." _Then I better think of something...I _know _it's her. _

"My sister is dead, Inuyasha," Kaede said severely. "Ye must ask Kagome to be certain, but by all I hear, I do believe that that is truly her spirit—" She raised one withered hand to silence him. "But not her _soul. _Ye must realize that she is not the same woman we knew. She has become embittered, angry, sorrowful, and not inclined to listen to reason. For your sake and for Kagome's, leave her alone."

"I _can't_." Pain sliced through his chest steadily, as if Sesshoumaru had taken his favorite light-whip to his flesh. "Some things I know I deserve, but I'm _not_ letting her get away with screwing with Kagome and calling me a m...liar. I could go to the Tree and make her listen to me..."

"If she has made up her mind, ye are powerless to change it. I thought ye knew her that well in life, at least, to know that much." Kaede sighed heavily and struggled to her feet. "I must go and attend Saki again to make sure the babes are receiving sufficient nourishment. If ye _must _persist, seek Kagome's advice. She may have knowledge I do not."

_Like hell I'm bringing Kikyou up to her after what happened at the Tree. _He scowled and also got up. "Yeah, yeah. You got anything that might make her get better sooner?"

* * *

Inuyasha stopped outside Kagome's room and took a deep breath. None of the servants had seen anyone leave there since Miroku came in early that morning, left shortly after and returned with one of the strange sacks the wolves had brought. 

This was ridiculous; why should he be afraid to enter a room in his own castle, when the girl inside had no right to be angry with him...well, not much, that he could see...? And why would he be afraid even if she was? She was sick, after all.

_And I brought her some tea and everything. Hope she's grateful, dammit._

Inuyasha gulped, reached for the shoji...hesitated...and slid it open carefully to the room next to hers.

Silence. No noise except the barest scuffling, the light creak of the top layer of Kagome's bed thing, and a faint mix of familiar scents, none of which were fresh within the hour. _They've been just sitting in there the whole time? What the...? Napping? _Brows knitted in confusion, he reached for the next shoji.

"_YOU CHEATING BASTARD!"_

The stack of tea cups and small jugs in his hand went flying and shattered against the wall as Inuyasha nearly tripped head-first through the shoji; he wrenched it out of its slot and leapt into the room. "Kagome! What's wrong!"

No one moved as everyone readjusted to their now-mutual environment: Sango, who was inexplicably wearing a pink flower headband with matching streamers, had backed up against the bed corner on the floor so as to have more lunging distance at Miroku, whose head was locked between her shoulder and forearm; Kagome, bedecked with several layers of odd, ruffly blue-green _things _and beads around her neck and a bizarrely shaped frog-patterned plastic thing covering her eyes, had one pillow raised and ready to whack the monk, but at Inuyasha's entrance stopped and began to slowly overbalance, sliding off the bed and toppling onto her belly next to Kohaku, whose head was draped in a sparkling blue-fringed net, while Shippou munched on a candy bar on the TV box and, despite the fact that his little face had numerous things drawn upon it – whiskers, tiny hiragana faces, nonsensical phrases like "I like cheese" – still managed to watch the whole thing with an air of good-natured maturity.

"Nice timing," the kit told Inuyasha calmly, licking his minute fingers and hopping down to examine the broken sliding door. "You're gonna fix this, right?"

"What..."

"Hi," Kagome said weakly, pushing the odd face device onto her forehead.

"...the..."

"May I be permitted a word in my defense before my untimely demise?" Miroku wheezed, clawing at Sango's arm.

"...fu..."

"I suppose, houshi-sama, but you had _better _explain how you went out in only four rounds!" She released him, and he promptly began gasping for breath.

"...ck..."

"Um..." Kohaku was clearly very embarrassed; in his haste, he spoke first and waited till Inuyasha's utterly disbelieving gaze was on him to whip off the hair net. "W-we were just p-playing a g-game."

"..._game!..._"

"Yeah," Kagome said brightly, only huffing a bit as she pulled herself up to a sitting position. "S'called Rich Man, Poor Man. It's really pretty fun."

"...What...the hell kind of game..." Inuyasha eyed the adornments around her neck and on Sango's head. "...Do I even want to know?"

"It's a card game. See?" Everyone but Miroku obligingly held up varying amounts of cards; Shippou and Kagome had three or four each, while Kohaku and Sango had about a dozen. "The object is to get rid of your cards by the rules each round. Whoever does that first, down to the last person, gets a certain rank from Rich Man down to Poor Man. These," Kagome removed two leis from her neck and tossed them to Inuyasha. "Those belong to the Melon. That's the second highest rank. We just make 'em up in between."

"And this cheating _person _has been the Rich Man for twelve rounds in a row," Sango said grimly, nudging Miroku sharply with her bare foot. "It's enough to drive you insane with the rules he makes up!"

"My rule was clearly that the Rich Man is permitted to play in a manner befitting his position," Miroku said faintly, holding up his hands in defeat as the three other human players rounded on him. "...In addition, of course, to my requirement that the Poor Man wear that charming flower circlet." He speedily ducked two blows.

Inuyasha felt an unfamiliar twinge in his chest. "You...made all this up?"

"Not all of it. The rules are always the same. But the Rich Man changes...or is _supposed to_...and he or she can make up one rule a round. Of course, a lot of the titles and rank-appropriate items are open to interpretation..." Kagome faltered as Inuyasha's face began to twitch. "I know it's weird, and I'm sorry we scared you. We were just having fun."

The twitching increased, and his voice took on an odd cast. "I...see. So if the bouzu loses and gets the same rank as Sango, _he_ has to wear that thing." Before Kagome could finish nodding, Inuyasha had suddenly taken a keen interest in gnawing at one of his claws and turning his back, shoulders shaking.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome got up and threaded her way to the destruction the hanyou had caused, and tried to peer into his face. "Are you...are you _laughing_?"

With great effort Inuyasha straightened his features and looked down at her. "'Course not." His efforts proved futile as Kagome flipped the frog sunglasses back onto her face, and the infamous half-breed Lord of the Western Lands let out a bark of laughter that quickly developed into a full-blown case of the giggles. "You...you..._aaaugh_!"

Kagome gaped at him, wondering whether to be indignant or proud of herself, and eventually settled on one. As Inuyasha finally began to calm down and glanced around for her, he found that he'd missed a hurried, whispered conference and turned around to see the women proudly displaying Miroku, who was resignedly wearing the headband, the glasses and all the jewelry, sparkling net draped over his cursed hand.

Fifteen minutes, two relapses and one very bad case of side-soreness later, Inuyasha had chased everyone but Kagome out of the room with strict orders that no one was to breathe a word of what had happened to anyone else under pain of slow and lingering death.

"Ow," Inuyasha muttered, sprawled on Kagome's bed and massaging his face. "No one ever told me it hurt so much to do that."

"Some things are worth it," she said primly, tugging at his hair and settling into a crouch at the bed's side. Seeing him laugh had been a stranger and much more enjoyable experience than she would've thought. "You're gonna fix the shoji, right?"

A grunt and a careless hand wave. Kagome blinked, and the next second, the door was back to normal. "Oh. Thanks."

"Man..." Inuyasha shifted onto his aching stomach and stretched out with a sigh. "You guys are gonna be the death of me, one way or 'nother."

"One hopes not." Kagome pulled a lock of hair over his shoulder and began to braid it idly. "So you've never laughed like that before?"

"Nope. Never got much of a chance to see Miroku dressed up like a demented prostitute before. And what the hell is that thing you wear over your eyes?"

"They're sunglasses." Kagome held them up and slid them on and off for his benefit. "They're designed to keep the sun's rays from hurting your eyes. This is a kids' pair. I don't know why it's here."

"Me neither, wench." There was no bite to it, though, and he permitted her to keep braiding the lock up to where human ears would be.

Kagome began humming softly as she worked, a strange, swinging melody that was oddly appealing in his decreasingly lucid state. The soft sound, the smell surrounding him and the light, rhythmic tug on his scalp conspired against his mind's belated attempt to remember something important it had been going to do, and his eyes closed before his brain knew what they were doing.

He was only vaguely aware of the humming ceasing, but his ears pricked up as she began crooning the words under her breath, sweet, strange sounds in yet another language he'd never heard.

His ear flicked as she paused, dropped the now-heavier lock and hopped lightly onto the bed. Unfortunately, the fact she'd been ignoring since she came downstairs – namely, that she was still sick – caught up with her as she started to maneuver herself over to his other side to braid the other lock, and her adrenaline abruptly gave out.

A sudden addition of warmth, weight and smell across his back woke Inuyasha quite effectively; he twisted around in wide-eyed confusion. "Kagome, what the hell...?"

"Sorry. Pushed it." She dragged herself across his lower back, unaware of how much twitching he was going through thanks to that small action, and settled into the hollow between him and the wall. "M'really sorry. Got tired all of a sudden."

"That's right, you're still sick..." He wrestled various feelings down, propped himself up and as far away from her as the bed would permit (not very much) and felt her forehead with the side of his hand. "Not too bad, but if you keep jumping around, you're gonna get sicker."

"Mmmm. Sorry." Kagome also stretched out on her stomach and sighed, burying her head in her folded arms. She'd changed into a long, light green PJ set earlier, perfect for the air's gentle warmth. "I never let my family know whenever I got sick. Dad wouldn't stop fussing and everyone else didn't care."

"...Well, if you die, I'm in trouble, so don't even think about it."

She smiled at his attempt to sound callous. "It was good to see you laugh. You seem really unhappy lately."

Inuyasha copied her head-arm configuration and rested his right cheek on his forearm so that he was facing her. "Yeah, tell me about..."

Shit. Kikyou. _That _was it. He had been about to ask her about Kikyou, for any insights as to why the dead priestess was...

"Inuyasha?"

"It...nothing. It's nothing." Inuyasha pushed himself up and slid off the bed.

"Wait!" Kagome summoned enough strength to lunge for his sleeve and hang on. "Where are you going?"

Inuyasha didn't turn around. "Let go. I'll send Sango in. We can eat in here later if you want."

"Don't go."

Kagome hadn't quite meant that to come out on such an entreating note, but out that way it came, and Inuyasha looked around, blinking in confusion. "What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's not a trick question, Inuyasha. I just..." Kagome's hand was starting to tremble from the simple exertion of holding his sleeve loosely. "Please?" _Don't shake me off..._

"Feh." She fell back against the wall in a flood of relief as he grudgingly sat down, arms folded and head held high to conceal the embarrassment tinting his cheekbones. "You're nuts."

"I'm a sick person, yep." She smiled feebly. "Get it?"

"Go to sleep." A trace of...something not unlike affection threaded itself through the acid words, and Inuyasha stretched out again, cautiously, watching her as if she might fall on him again.

Kagome shook her head slowly. "Nuh-uh. I have to even up."

"Even...? Oh." Inuyasha rolled his eyes as she rolled onto her side, freed his other hanging lock and slowly began to separate it into threes for a braid. "So that's why you made me stick around."

He didn't realize he'd spoken aloud till her hands faltered. "You think I just wanted you here to play with your hair?"

"Well, yeah. Why else would you ask?"

"For your company, idjit." She tugged gently a couple of times. "Some of us actually enjoy talking to cranky, stubborn jerks."

Inuyasha grunted, but his mind was racing to disassemble the remark and interpret the pieces. _Did she...did she just say she likes..._

"So you just want someone to spar with, is that it?" he grumped, turning his face away with a show of sulkiness.

He could still hear the smile in her voice, though. "'Course. Who else can I fight with and actually have fun?" Tug tug. "And you've failed to prove yourself an incorrigible jerk, too. Not to say you haven't put up a damn good fight..."

"Keh." Inuyasha hoped that would shut her up. The backhanded compliments were making him feel funny. _Knew I should've left. _

But even he knew when some things were at stake, and he'd sensed, almost subconsciously, that brushing her hand off would've had consequences he really didn't want to think about. She obviously wasn't still thinking along the same lines he was, if she _wanted _him there – his heart felt funny again for a second – but that was her problem.

As he let his mind wander and heard the humming start back up, he had to admit that he hadn't been so relaxed, so calm, so...well, not unhappy...for the longest time he could remember. Even his discovery that Kikyou shared his feelings had terrified him as much as it made his heart want to burst...

The song's odd words were sufficient to snap him out of it again, even though her voice gave out and she had to resort to humming the last few bars.

"What language is that?" he asked, more for distraction than out of actual interest.

"French. You've heard some of it before..." Kagome half-smiled awkwardly and rushed on before he could remember that she'd told him to go to hell at the end of their first meeting. _Seems like years ago, and no time at all, at the same time..._

"S'better than that other language. I don't like that one."

She laughed and let her hands rest for a minute, staring at the half-braided lock against the salmon color of her comforter. "English is _the _language to know if you want to be successful these days. The most powerful country in the world speaks it and not much else except maybe Spanish."

"Keh! We have the biggest demons of anywhere. We could take over if we wanted." He scratched his head carefully, and the slight noise let her recover her composure before she laughed at him and ruined the mood.

"Only humans exist now, as far as humans are concerned. I didn't know about demons till I came here...well, till Kirara came to pick me up, anyway." Kagome started braiding again, a little more slowly now.

"Idiot humans. Demons must be really pathetic now not to bother taking control like they used to." Inuyasha let out an earsplitting yawn, and Kagome involuntarily glanced up at the top of his head. Both ears were half-turned towards her.

"Anyway," she went on, braiding and glancing at his ears every so often, "my oldest brother's best friend's family hosted an American exchange student for a while, and she got him interested in learning it. He started teaching me when I was little, and we spoke it around the house to help Dad improve his."

"Mmmm." Inuyasha yawned again.

Kagome laughed quietly and finished braiding almost to the scalp. "Hmmmm..." She examined it critically. "I like this one better." She tapped him gently on the shoulder. "Hey, dog-boy. Roll over so I can finish."

Grumbling, eyes still closed, Inuyasha obediently turned onto his back. Kagome carefully picked up the lock and tugged it free from underneath his shoulder. _He really is like an overgrown dog. Wonder if he'll kick his hind leg if I scratch his stomach? _For just a second, the temptation was overwhelming.

"Hurry it up," he mumbled without opening his eyes. "I'm 'bout to...fall..." And his head fell to the side, taking a deep, involuntary breath and letting it out in a soft sigh.

_Perfect. _Deciding reluctantly that she was already taking as many liberties as she was probably going to be permitted, Kagome skipped the tummy rub and started braiding again, slowly, enjoying the simple task immensely.

But, within seconds, she was done. _Great. Now what? _He was down for the count, it looked like; Kagome wondered that he trusted her enough to fall asleep right here like that. _Guess he knows I'm sick, no powers, no threat, plus I let a sterling Dead Inu opportunity slip by. ...Idiot. As if I'd just let him die with me right there!_

Slowly, to avoid waking him, she unbraided the lock and smoothed it out, marveling at how soft the inner strands felt, as if they hadn't been in a tight braid for several minutes just now. Too bad he was lying on most of his hair: there went her chance to play with it complaint-free.

Kagome lifted the other braided lock, but her arms suddenly went spaghetti on her again, and she had to drop it, frustrated. _Nuts. Better wake him up anyway..._ She checked his ears out of habit: unmoving. _Wow, he's really out. _His face was calmer and smoother in sleep than it ever was awake; she had to reiterate her idly formed opinion of however long ago that, minus the fangs, stripes and blood red, he could actually be fairly cute. Nice jaw lines, high cheekbones, nice...well...everything below the neck...and—

She stopped when she caught herself staring at his lips. _Good God! What'm I gonna do now, try to kiss him and wind up in a comically compromising position! Nuh-uh! _Kagome mentally slapped herself, willing her face to cool off. _Get a grip and wake him up!_

"Inuyasha?" He didn't stir at her first soft attempt. "Inuyasha." Without thinking, she tapped his cheek gently...and started. _What? _Had his face stripe just...?

The air grew still as she leaned in closer. Swallowing, she placed a fingertip at the apex of his right stripe and traced it with a feather's touch down to the hinge of his jaw...and watched in disbelief as it rippled and faded under her finger.

_What the...? _Kagome pulled her hand away. No, there it was, jagged and purple and actually kind of cool-looking now that she was used to it. _O...kay...what about the other one?_

But as she reached for his chin to gently turn his head, a shock ten times as violent as any static electricity jolted her hand, and she shrieked involuntarily, snatching the hand back.

"What? What?" Inuyasha sprang up to all fours, instantly alert. "Kagome? What's wrong?"

"I...I don't know!" Face still red, Kagome blew on her stinging fingers and surveyed the damage: three blisters and painfully red, angry skin. _Disappearing stripe or not, I didn't imagine whatever the hell _this_ was, that's for sure!_

"What'd you do to get _that_?" Inuyasha gently snatched it from her and held it up close to his eyes. "This some kinda burn? How'd you get it?"

"I don't know," she mumbled, trying halfheartedly to tug out of his loose but iron grip. Stupid as she knew she was being, their proximity was still suddenly rather embarrassing. "It just kind of...ow!" Kagome glared as he very lightly touched one of the blisters. "What was that for?"

"I've never seen this kind of burn before. Wait here. I'm gonna go get some water." He swiftly disappeared out of the room, leaving Kagome to contemplate various new mysteries on her own.

When he returned several minutes later, deterred by the need to keep the servants in the dark, he was annoyed and amused to find her asleep. "Took you long enough," he muttered, setting the jug down and pulling a clean rag from his sleeve. She didn't wake as he examined the hand again in the rapidly waning light and began dabbing cold water on it. "I'm not babying you any more after today, you got that, wench?"

No answer. He finished wrapping the three middle fingers together clumsily and fiddled with the dressing—if it could even be called one. _Mom would laugh at me..._His hand tightened involuntarily, and he stopped, appalled: he'd squeezed her fingers. _She's gonna wake up and kill me...!_

To his dumbfounded relief, there was no response. _Good, got off easy this t—_

Inuyasha started as she stirred, and suddenly he felt gentle, unmistakable pressure: she'd squeezed his hand back. Wide-eyed, he searched her face, but she was deeply asleep. _Kagome..._

Neither of them told their friends about it the next day, which was just as well, because otherwise the servants would undoubtedly have picked up the story – through either telepathy, lucky invention of facts or osmosis, no one was ever sure exactly how – and spread it rapidly to explain why Shippou ambled in a few minutes later, dropped his half-eaten lollipop and gaped at Inuyasha, who was leaning against the bed, eyes almost closed, arms resting on the mattress next to Kagome's.

As the kit began to back away, one ruby eye opened fully and pinned him. "Oi. Runt." Shippou relaxed as Inuyasha spoke in a harsh whisper, obviously taking care to keep Kagome asleep. "Tell Sango to be quiet if she comes in. I'm eating alone tonight. And if _you_ wake her up, I'll turn you into a very small rug. Got it?"

* * *

A/N: One week, wheeee...sorry about slight delay, but Life is funny and annoying. And my 'Net is not working...BUT I have another computer with which to work here, at home, NOT in a crappy little dorm room and at the mercy of a single crappy dial-up connection! Mwa ha ha ha haaaaa! (edits and uploads from parents' sexy new-ish comp ) 

I was going to end on a wicked cliffhanger, but I'm not that cruel: I have way too much stuff to do tomorrow (later today, that is...pulled another all-nighter for you people, 'tis 6 a.m. already), and we're out of town for the weekend, where I would not wish to be hounded by fic-reading relatives for leaving off on a bad note. So expect some actual plot movement very soon in the story...just not till I get back and do some homework. Stupid homework!


	20. One Down, Two to Go

Disclaimer: Inuyasha not mine. Nor will ever, ever be. I suck at haiku.

A/N: Not much to say. Tired. School sucks. Miss boyfriend more than whining can say. Will indulge in fictional relationships and speak like Bridget Jones in attempt to compensate. V. disappointed no one knew "Valse de la Lune" from Wolf's Rain—bloody excellent music. Bit obscure, maybe...

Oh, yes—have received numerous inquiries re: Inuyasha's face, why looks like full demon when obviously is not, et cetera. Sore wa himitsu desu. (It's a secret.) Sorry!

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 20**

One moment Kagome was resting her eyes and waiting for Inuyasha to come back with the promised water – which reminded her vaguely that she hadn't had a bath in days now, yech – and the next, she was wide awake, head clear as she sat up and saw that the room was empty save for one person kneeling in the center. "Kikyou? What're _you _doing here?"

"It's a pleasure to see you face to face once more as well," the priestess replied, tilting her head slightly. Both of them seemed to be seated on the floor, and Sango was nowhere to be found: that plus the lack of heaviness in her limbs indicated that this was probably a dream. "I merely thought a visit would be considerate in light of...certain things that have happened."

"Does this mean you'll actually answer some questions?" Kagome's fingers tightened on her knees, and the lack of feeling from her nails biting into the flesh confirmed that she hadn't woken up yet. "I'd _really _appreciate it if you would."

"...Within reason, of course." Kikyou nodded shortly, impassive as ever.

"Huh...lemme think..." She tapped her chin out of habit and ceased as it failed to produce any sensation—it was too weird, like having her mouth numbed at the dentist's and being able to poke her lips without feeling afterward. Then she glanced at her hand and scowled in sudden suspicion. "Would you happen to know why I got the static shock from hell for no apparent reason yesterday?"

"No apparent reason? Think carefully." Kagome seethed as Kikyou folded her hands and waited.

"Fine, then... I got it as I was trying to..." She stopped. "What, you didn't want me touching him? Was that it?"

"In a manner of speaking," the other woman answered calmly. Kagome had to wonder if her own eyes ever narrowed like that. _Hope not, 'cause if they do, I look friggin' creepy! _

A whole plethora of questions not related to creepy appearances sprang up from that answer, though, and Kagome settled on the most immediate, trying to suppress her indignation: "You said you weren't going to interfere, remember? ...And how did he fall asleep?! I haven't answered him in two days now!"

She bit her semi-existent lips, wondering in belated embarrassment how much Kikyou knew about the curse, but she needn't have worried. "I said I would not interfere in the curses, girl, not that I would do nothing. I have no intention of undoing anything, but even I become curious once in a while, and his behavior yesterday – and yours – aroused my interest."

_Oh, God. _Kagome 'sucked in' her cheeks and thanked whoever was available that she couldn't blush like this. _Not that I need to—Creepyho here knows everything already! _"How much exactly where you...never mind, you probably saw everything." She drummed her fingers before she could stop herself. _Hypocrite...first she traumatizes him by calling him a murderer, then she turns around and tells me to keep my hands off?...Not that that's that big a deal...I think... _

Time to get away from that line of thought before she started banging her head on the floor in humiliated frustration. "So can you shed any light on why his face changes? Or _will_ you, rather?"

"Did you have any other questions regarding his charge that I am lying about my death?" Kikyou spoke almost over the last word.

_That'd be a no. Aaargh. _"He never said you were lying, Kikyou, and I don't think he is." Kikyou's face darkened, and Kagome raised her voice slightly. "I'm _really _starting to think something else was up. If it was Naraku who somehow did all this in the first place, why wouldn't he have tried to get revenge on you guys first? Maybe he did it because his first plans got screwed up and he wanted to punish Inuyasha or something."

"Not a bad theory, for you." Kikyou's lips almost gave the impression of movement. "But not a valid one. That creature was _dead_ when I died."

Kagome had further reason to be glad of their method of communication: she couldn't actually tear her hair out like she wanted to. "But...but if he...curse later...he could've..."

"Before your mind collapses from the effort," Kikyou said dryly, "I suppose I should concede that you _may _be in remote proximity to the truth of what happened. ...Don't look so shocked, girl. I've observed Inuyasha longer than you, and I know when he suffers genuine guilt or simply his own self-punishment. Had he been maintaining complete fiction all this time, he would not have tolerated your presence till now—and he would have lashed out at your foolishness and not laughed at it." Something very strange colored that last sentence, a mix of quiet melancholy and bitterness that threw Kagome off even further than the priestess's relenting. _What the...? Don't tell me she's..._

Kagome had no further time for reflection as Kikyou pressed her lips together and spoke again, sharply. "Suffice to say that reason prevails when passion is faced with irreversible proof of its folly. Remember that."

"Uh...okay." Kagome could've sworn she somehow felt a chill. _I guess not even she could really convince herself he's a cold-blooded killer after the way he's been moping around, or after he almost wet himself yesterday. She's an ice queen, but she's calmed down, and she's not stupid._

But that didn't shake the sudden notion that the priestess hadn't just been talking about her new openness of mind...

"Naraku had many agents and loyal servants," Kikyou was saying. "I will consider the possibility that one or more of them may have engineered the situation to our...disadvantage."

_Disadvantage?! _There was a _slight _understatement.

"But I do not wish Inuyasha to consider himself forgiven, even if your idea should have some merit."

It took all of Kagome's willpower and self-preservation not to ask why, if it really had been a trick or some kind of misunderstanding, Inuyasha was to have all the blame. _You're supposed to be the all-knowing one, you self-righteous cow, and after the way you've hurt him..._

"One more thing before I go..." Now Kikyou did smile, thinly. "You and Inuyasha have been getting along quite well."

That startled her right out of her brooding, and she was grateful for the lack of blood in her cheeks once more. "Uh...I...guess so. He's been pretty nice since I got sick. He'll probably go back to yelling at me when I get better." Kagome shrugged carelessly. _Damn, she's making me nervous... _"I think we're pretty much friends now, anyway."

Kikyou made a slight noise of disgust. "_Friends_." She rose gracefully and glared down at Kagome, who was too surprised and busy wondering what she'd done now to get up. "If you had any inkling of what you've done, I wouldn't bother to tell you, but here's a piece of advice..." She deliberately turned her back. "Don't be alone with Inuyasha for the next few days if you can help it. At all."

A very tiny voice in the back of Kagome's mind tried to get her attention and let her know that it knew something important, but it was squashed as she leapt, Inuyasha-like, to the nearest conclusion. "What, you still think he's dangerous? He's _not _going to hurt me, Kikyou, and you know it."

The priestess spared her a knowing look and a shake of the head before she sighed gently. "I tried, girl. Now it's best that you wake up."

* * *

The warning rankled in the back of her mind for the rest of the week; she continued to notice fewer coughs and a definite drop in headache intensity, as well as the predicted return of Inuyasha's normal behavior.. It especially bothered her when she woke up early for no discernable reason a few days later; only the fact that Shippou was prancing around on her stomach and insisting that the weather was the prettiest he'd ever seen it distracted her.

It also didn't help that her bedding, much heavier than what the servants were used to washing, badly needed to be aired out. "I could use some de-stinking, too," Kagome said thoughtfully as Sango began to strip the comforter and sheets. "I dunno if I can take another bath yet today, though...plus I might be contagious."

"The steam won't do your lungs much good, even though you do sound better, Kagome-chan," Sango agreed, lifting the heavy mattress with one hand and scooping the kit onto the TV box with the other. "You should get out for a little while, though. Why don't we have a picnic?"

The idea was received with great enthusiasm, and Kagome found she had enough strength to walk out the side entrance almost unaided. Shippou insisted upon carrying the food, which was packed in a box larger than he was and twice as heavy. "See, I'm plenty strong enough," he bragged, struggling manfully to keep it steady and avoid falling off Sango's shoulder.

"Yeah, almost as strong as Myouga, and almost as useful." A long-clawed hand yanked the box out of his grip from behind, and Shippou set up a storm of protest as Inuyasha stopped ahead of them, just in front of the stairs. "I _know _you weren't gonna try to go down these by yourself, wench." He began to turn and crouch.

"Walk down alone? Me?" Inuyasha half-turned in alarm at her overly innocent tone. "I wouldn't dream of it." Kagome backed up against the huge, polished railing, used most of her remaining strength to hop up, and involuntarily squealed as she slid down _quite _a bit faster than she'd intended.

"You idiot!" Inuyasha dropped the box, leapt down the stairs, and held up one arm to catch her seconds before she landed on her rear. "What the hell was that?!"

"That was _fun_!" She pushed away from his arm supporting her waist and half-seriously turned to the stairs. "Can I do that again?"

"NO!" Inuyasha took her other arm and set her down on the bottom step. "Sit!" She stuck her tongue out at him, but obliged—her legs were a little wobbly anyway. "Now, don't move, and if you run off and get eaten or something, it's your own damn fault!"

Kagome added a pull of her eyelid to her stuck-out tongue as he stalked back up to where Sango had retrieved the box and was walking down, obviously torn between laughter and concern. Kagome then looked back down with a sigh, rubbing the spot on her tailbone where friction had worn the most. _I've always wanted to do that. Gotta get the main stairs sometime..._

She just barely missed Inuyasha's pause a few steps away from Sango; nor did she see him sniff at his hand, then look at the food box, sniff his hand again, and shrug.

"It's certainly beautiful out today," Miroku said genially as he approached the little spread of food and utensils on an old spare rug near the shrine some minutes later. "I wish I'd thought to eat out here myself."

"No more for you, bouzu," Inuyasha snapped, clicking his claws together meaningfully as Kagome fed Shippou nearly half her breakfast. "We have enough freeloaders over here."

"He's a growing boy," Kagome said placidly, patting the kit as he sighed and leaned into the crook of her arm. That was the signal that she was free to finish the rest.

"That reminds me..." Sango put down her bowl. "How does one usually clean your bedding, Kagome-chan? Scrubbing?"

"Not unless there's a specific reason to, nope. Just let it air out." Kagome glanced up appreciatively. The sun was out, but gently so in a stunningly azure sky, and a cool breeze balanced the overhead warmth perfectly. "At this rate, I might stay out here all day."

"And do what? Look at the clouds?" Inuyasha snorted.

Kagome stuck her tongue out again, then brightened. "Hey! That's right, you owe me a favor!"

"Since when?!"

"Since you lost the other night, remember?" Ignoring Inuyasha's views to the contrary, Kagome nodded and set down her nearly empty bowl. "I still don't know how big the lands around here are, and I wanna see it myself. D'you think you could take me around?"

Inuyasha snorted again. "You're still sick. You think I want you puking in my hair?"

"Oh, c'mon. I went down the rail and I feel fine. I'm almost back to normal, and as long as you don't do much jumping, it'll be fun. Pleeeeeease?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"No."

"Pleeeeeease?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"...No, dammit!"

"Pl—"

"_All right_! Just shut up!"

_That was way too easy. _Kagome waved to Sango as the slayer packed up and headed back to the castle, Miroku gazing after her until Shippou tugged at his robes and said something she didn't catch.

Inuyasha felt another pang of misgiving as Kagome climbed onto his back and settled down. _Weird. I'm not _that _worried about her getting sick. She smells okay... _His ears flicked in unison, and he mentally shrugged. "Ready, Kagome? Not gonna puke?"

"Probably not. ...Geez, it was a joke! No growling!"

With one last grumble, Inuyasha tensed, then launched off towards the back of the castle, smirking as she squeaked and clutched his shoulders tighter. "Wanna stop already?" he shouted above the wind, leaning to the right and aiming for a gap in the trees.

Her only response was a laugh as they plunged into the forest and picked up speed. She'd been on roller coasters before, but as she looked around and thought about it, this was approximately 5,000 times better; the wind was cool on her face and bare legs, but there was no grinding and clanking of gears, stupid fellow-rider shrieks or reek of hot, old metal pinching her waist to mar the sensation of freedom as they seemed to fly through the trees, with nothing between her and the sweetly earthy air except the unbelievably rapid pattering and crunching of bare feet on dirt and leaves, warm muscle supporting her and the odd, different-earthy smell of Inuyasha's haori plus the almost dog-like musk of his hair. _But not wet-dog, more like...I dunno. Something a lot better..._

Well, this was no time to think. She gave that up just so she could _feel_, and leaned with him unconsciously as he veered to the right, taking them in ever-widening circles around the forest.

"Not sure how your measurement works," he said over his shoulder after a few minutes, making her jump and grab reflexively again. "But it's pretty damn big. Not even I can run around the whole thing all at a time."

"But you can sure as hell try, right?" Kagome said next to his ear, and was rewarded with an appreciative snort.

She was enjoying the experience far too much to notice Inuyasha stiffen slightly, but she did realize it when he began to slow down a minute later. "What's up? Are we taking a break?"

"Off," he said abruptly, and Kagome blinked in hurt and disappointment. _If he's tired, he could just say so. ...No, he couldn't. This is Inuyasha we're talking about._

Inuyasha's ruby eyes were unreadable as he almost jerked to a stop and released her legs, turning to spare her a glance as she sat down and fanned herself.

"That was _awesome_," Kagome said happily, refusing to let him spoil the ride. She sat down with her back to a tree and tossed her head to resettle her windblown hair. "I mean, jumping around is one thing, but that was just amazing. D'you think we could do that more often from now on? I've never had that m—"

"Kagome." She started at his flat tone. "Did you...did Kaede...give you anything?"

Kagome frowned. "Give me anything? No..." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, didn't you try to bring me something when we were playing Rich Man, Poor Man, and we made you spill everything?"

Her jaw dropped slightly as he said a few quiet, clipped words. He hadn't sworn that badly for quite a while now. "What? What is it?"

"I'll be right back." Inuyasha stalked off through the trees, leaving her with her mouth hanging open.

Then he came right back. "No, dammit, I know how this works—I leave you alone for a second and you go off and get attacked or lost or sick..."

"What's wrong with—" Kagome nearly bit her tongue as Inuyasha came within about two feet and crouched, on eye level, then leaned in.

"You liked the ride, did you?"

Kagome gulped slightly, heart picking up a rapid staccato pace at his tone—or lack thereof. _What the... _"Yeah, it was great. I'd like to do that...again...some..."

Her brain was diverting more and more power away from her mouth and towards figuring out what to do now that he'd leaned in even closer, deliberately stopping within inches of her face. Logic suggested she shove away or tell _him _to do so, but...

"You look confused," Inuyasha growled irritably. "Give you a hint." She almost passed out as he came down _closer _and dipped his head to take a long sniff at her neck. The slight puff of warm breath on her throat tensed every fiber of her body not already rigid at his nearness, and it was sheer luck that a few stalwart brain cells had enough sense to recall the last time she was in this situation.

_You didn't take any of that tea stuff for this month. The one that makes you not smell like...oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh—_

"You weren't supposed to do this yet, wench," he rasped, pulling himself back as though they were magnets. _Guess we are, if you really want to...ohhhh, crap! _So that was what Kikyou had......_oh, God, I'm never going to live this down...!_

"She was off a little," Kagome managed to get out, toying frantically with her hair and trying to look everywhere but at Inuyasha. "I'm not always that punctual, either..."

_Now what?! _He was still pretty close...they'd been closer, of course, especially lately, but not when she... "Um...I could get Kirara to take me back so you don't have t—"

"Idiot." Inuyasha squeezed his eyes shut.

"What, so you'd rather still give me a ride back?" She didn't realize even the suggestion was a mistake till his arm snaked between her waist and the tree and pulled her into his lap, settling her carefully on his right thigh.

Any working parts of her mind lost power as he looped both arms around her middle and rested his forehead on her hair. She could feel him trembling very slightly all over. "I can't...I'm...sorry..." His head turned to the side, and any thought she had of replying was removed by another exhalation on her neck. "Kagome..." He swallowed hard and leaned back, breathing more labored than the run could account for. "Not...forcing you. Get off." Arm muscles loosened, sliding away but not off her hip and lap.

"Ah..." That was the only sound she could make. Heaven help her, Kagome _could not _move. She shifted infinitesimally, but the movement was more her muscles' reaction to sudden, prolonged tension than any effort on her part.

Seconds ticked away. It was so quiet that the sounds of his breathing and her heartbeat in her throat pressed on her eardrums in a dull roar.

"K..._off._" Inuyasha nudged her waist with one arm, dimly surprised that he had even that much control left. If she didn't put some distance between them _very _soon...

A fragment of consciousness returned, and she gradually became aware, with as much bemusement as if her own mind was just a TV show she was watching, that she didn't _want _to move.

Inuyasha's preferred interpretation of her frozen posture dissolved messily as he took one more careful little whiff of her neck and found _no _fear scent. She wasn't moving, but she wasn't paralyzed with fear.

The disbelief that that conclusion prompted galvanized his brain into producing low, harsh speech. "What're you _doing? _Look at me!"

Obediently her face turned up towards his, and disbelief had a _very _difficult time standing up against the evidence suggesting, as she was looking straight at him – not in disgust or pity, morbid fascination or fear or anger, just a little uncertainty and things he wasn't prepared to comprehend – that maybe, even if she wasn't there of her own volition, she somehow wasn't choosing to leave, she actually _wanted _to be that close—

Even then, in retrospect, he had to admit that even then, his control didn't quite snap. His left arm tightened around her waist, and when she didn't protest or pull away, his right came up across her back, claws careful not to prick her scalp as the fingers tipped her head back gently as his mouth came down to

"Mrao?"

Kagome's shriek as something meowed into her ear – it seemed – and sprang into her lap echoed all the way back to the castle.

Thus, by the time Inuyasha had gotten her untangled and she'd persuaded him to put Tetsusaiga away lest he hurt poor Buyo (the poor kitty was far from home and he'd just happened to find someone he knew, it wasn't his fault!), Kirara had already homed in on them from above and dropped neatly through the treetops with Sango and Miroku in tow.

"We're okay, my cat just scared me," Kagome reassured them, cheerful, if curiously out of breath. Inuyasha turned on his heel and stalked away without a word.

"Are you all right, Kagome-chan? Your face is a terrible color." Sango placed her hand on Kagome's forehead. "You're very warm. Did Inuyasha make you sick again?"

"Uh...look, this is Buyo!" Kagome held up the fat calico for their inspection, smiling maniacally to ward off their curious looks. She had to wonder if they could hear her heart beating from where they were...all she could think was _please don't find out please please please—_

Footsteps heralded his return, but Kagome decided it would be safer to keep petting Buyo as Miroku and Sango looked up. "Inuyasha? What happened to _you_?" she heard the slayer ask, incredulous.

"None of your damn business," Inuyasha snarled, so venomous that Kirara rumbled warningly. A cold drop fell on Kagome's knee as he passed, and she gaped at his back as he strode back towards the castle: he was soaking wet. _He just went and jumped in...!_

Well, that was that. It was one thing to see that kind of cute, awkward or..._involved _near-miss on TV or in movies, and another to have an aroused half-demon actually...

She couldn't even try to finish the thought. Even if she could some day, she was sure it'd probably still make her go tomato-face. She could just imagine it now; when she was old, her grandkids would say, _"Hey, Granny, tell us 'bout how that half-demon made a pass at you 'cause he was drunk on your smell!"_

_And even _then _I'll get embarrassed and say "Shaddup and go get Granny some bourbon!" And then their parents will catch them and they'll get grounded. Serves 'em right, embarrassing their poor grandma that way!_

In case that line of thought wasn't pathetic enough, Kagome then caught herself wondering exactly how he'd been planning to manage, as his fangs came well past his bottom lip, and she had no clue how anyone was supposed to k—

There went her face again. She couldn't even think the freakin' _word_.

_And not like you weren't willing to find out, either. You were just sitting there, he _told _you to get off and he wasn't trying to make you_

_SHUT UP! _Kagome slowly wrestled that subject back into a small, private corner of her mind and focused on the fact that they were landing at the castle.

"Kagome-chan, are you certain you're all right?" Sango asked worriedly once they were back in the room. She'd chased Shippou out and was helping Kagome with an abbreviated sponge bath; letting the kitsune bathe with them was fine, but he needn't stick around when it was just Kagome getting clean and when it was obvious to Sango that Something had happened in the forest.

"I'm...well..." Kagome rubbed the side of her neck and shivered a little. "I forgot to take that tea to suppress that smell. So...yeah."

"...Oh." There was a world of understanding and curiosity in that single syllable. "...Would you... like to talk about it?"

"I'm not sure." Kagome slumped over as Sango scrubbed at her back. "It...it...I don't know!"

"All right," Sango said reassuringly. "As long as no one was hurt, and I know he wouldn't hurt you." The cloth slowed for just a second.

"He didn't. He was really good about it...better than most human guys are when they're in the mood." Kagome buried her face in her hands. "I'm just really confused."

Sango said nothing other than a soft "Hmmm," patting her friend's back dry as she considered it. "Well...forgive me if this is intruding, but...did he listen when you told him to leave you alone?"

Silence.

"Kagome-chan?"

"I didn't."

"You _what_?" Sango paused mid-pat, mouth slightly open. "Did you..."

"I didn't do _any_thing!" Kagome's voice rose, and Sango shushed her quickly lest the servants catch wind and make her life that much more complicated. "I just..."

"It's all right," her friend soothed, touching one shoulder lightly. "It's all right to be confused about that kind of thing. My father only told me about..._that_ once, but he spent hours talking about it."

"Really?" The idea of a wise father discussing that kind of subject was novel to Kagome, and she looked around despite herself. "Any good advice?"

"Well, it was from a man's perspective, of course..." Sango shifted uncomfortably. "But he was very direct. I'm afraid that's where I get it.

"One of the wisest ideas I think he had was about...relations, and what to watch for." The slayer smiled, shaking her head a little. "He was the first to tell me never to trust any man not to look for _that _as quick as he could, and to watch for the ones who don't leap straight at you."

"That makes sense," Kagome said in a very small voice.

Sango nodded. "Then he said to watch the ones who don't leap straight at you, because many of them are either counting on their good manners to win you over, waiting for their wives to turn their heads at the correct time, or they're simply not tired of their current amusement yet."

"Wow." Kagome was impressed at the cynicism despite herself. _Growing up 'round Akemi and Nabiki, that's saying something!_

"And then he said to sift through the ones who didn't fit those, and be careful not to select a well-mannered man who simply isn't interested in women..." Kagome snorted. "And _then _to the ones who were at least honest about their indiscretions, because at that point I would never find any man better."

"That's awful!" Kagome couldn't help smiling at that one. She'd already figured out that Sango's clan had disapproved of the noble tradition of keeping legal mistresses in addition to a wife, and from hints she picked up of demon traditions, she wouldn't be surprised to find out that Inuyasha had simply been repeating the human arguments he'd been taught when they fought about it so long ago. _The way he feels about Kikyou, I'm betting dog-boy's monogamous...or tries his damndest to be, anyway. _Why did that make her feel happy _and_ depressed...? _Meh. Stupid pheromones or hormones or whatever the hell combination thereof got me into this!_

"Yes. He made it _very _clear that any man who controls himself around women must have an excellent reason for doing so...and that if I could be sure the control wasn't something that simply benefit _him, _I had a rare man on my hands."

Kagome suddenly had to wonder if she'd just imagined a clinking sound outside the room. "I think so, too," she said as innocently as she could. "Especially if he's in a _really _good position and he just gives it up because he's a good guy. Not much you can do to beat that. Good way to distinguish lust from love, too...if he goes for it without thinking of you, he can't really love you. Too bad a lot of people think the opposite now..."

"Oh?" Sango chuckled. "Father never made much of a distinction there, just what to be careful of."

"I figured it out a while ago. Y'see..." Kagome sat up and began speaking earnestly, unaware that Miroku, Shippou _and _Kohaku were being joined by Inuyasha in the corridor, where her voice was easily carrying. The hanyou glared at them, but even the younger slayer was too interested to be deterred: he politely signaled silence, and Inuyasha paused to listen despite himself.

"The problem with lots of people, 'specially in my time – love is a much bigger deal now that it was in the feudal era when you lived, people actually try to marry because they're in love – they think that as soon as they're really attracted to someone and they talk to them for more than five minutes without any major hitches, boom! They're in love. Say they, well, y'know, 'cause that's what people in love do, of course. Then _that's_ so much fun that they stay together and keep at it 'cause they're _in love—_except anywhere from six months to six years later, they might even get married before they figure out that they're not attracted to each other anymore. Then there's nothing left, 'cause once you get tired of someone's looks, what else is there when looks were what you based everything on in the first place? Nothing."

"It makes sense, I suppose," Sango agreed. "But passion always fades as you get older, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, which is why you can't expect everything to be perfect, 'specially physically, all the time. People think if they're not getting along perfectly and they're not _always _wanting to jump each other, there's something wrong. Which is crap, of course...but no one realizes that anymore. Blame books, movies, TV—those are ways of telling stories the same way CDs have music. They always make you think that the first person you're really attracted to is _the one _for you...except the _really _stupid part is that not only are first-time things always supposed to work out minus maybe two problems, but as long as you're _in love, _you don't have to work on any of your differences! No compromises, no talking, no partnership, just la la la la la, we're in love, getting married means the end of all your problems, the end. It's _crap_."

"My. It sounds like you've had a while to think about this." Sango hid her amusement at her friend's obvious disgruntlement.

"Way too much time on my hands, yep." Kagome finished pulling a long white summer dress on and smoothed it impatiently. "Which is why it makes me want to scream when people insist there's no point to controlling yourself, it's just natural urges, etc. Or that it's absolutely everything in a relationship. It's not everything _or _nothing. Look at it this way: how're you supposed to know if you're sewing a kimono the right way if you keep stopping to add embroidery and other pretty junk you don't need?"

"I like the analogy."

"...I thought of it two years ago, listening to my sisters talk. I've just been waiting to tell it to someone who might understand it. Pathetic."

"No, no, it's an excellent analogy. I've never made a kimono, of course, but the message is very clear. If you're too busy adding flowers, you could miss the proper seams, and it'd fall apart the first fitting you tried to put it on."

"Exactly! Now, once it's finished and all nice and neat, then add all the embellishment you want, and it makes it that much better..."

"How do you know when it's finished?" Miroku asked before he remembered that he was supposed to be eavesdropping.

To his delighted surprise, no one moved to hit him, yell at him or otherwise denounce his existence. Inuyasha had an extremely thoughtful look on his face, Kohaku and Shippou had been lost for a while, and the women were too pleased at the monk's interest – and not surprised enough at the intrusion – to be angry.

"It's finished when you've decided together that it is, _without _the help of embroidery," Kagome answered, delighted that her long-held metaphor was enabling them to have a semi-serious conversation about _it_.

"But no embroidery makes for extremely dull, plain and unattractive kimonos, Kagome-sama. Many would rather wear a gaudy, poorly made garment than one without embellishment."

"And the gaudy ones are the hottest, scratchiest and most likely to fall apart, aren't they?" Kagome said triumphantly.

"So what you're saying, wench..." She only flushed the tiniest bit at his voice, separated as they still were by two shoji. "...is that if you're attracted to someone for the first time ever, and you're in love, it's going to last forever? Or that they only _think _they are?"

D'oh. "Well, there are different cases, of course, and everyone's different. It's mainly in my time that people do that," Kagome lied tactfully. "But sometimes it does happen. My dad says his mom said her first kiss was her wedding, and his parents were devoted to each other their whole lives."

"Feh. You spend way the hell too much time thinking about this."

"Oh!" Kagome smacked herself on the forehead as something she'd inadvertently been dancing around dawned on her. "It's been a month since I've been here! We need to celebrate!"

"Celebrate?" Inuyasha repeated irritably, but Kagome was already on her feet, pushing past him and leaving only a hint of that brain-stopping scent as she hurried towards the kitchens.

* * *

In the interval between lunch and sunset, the courtyard had been swept, torches and paper lanterns set out, and enough food for an army was ready to serve.

"You prepared all this shit for yourself?" Inuyasha snarled at Kagome, standing upwind her perch near the steps. "D'you think they have nothing better to do?"

"First off, they don't. Second..." Kagome nodded permission at a woman who'd paused nearby.

"Kagome-sama requested only the use of the kitchens to prepare her own special dishes, but once we learned of the occasion, we had no choice but to demonstrate proper respect." She bowed and hurried off.

"Since when is wasting time, food, and materials, plus disobeying both of us and doing this on their own _proper respect_?"

"Quit barking, Inuyasha. Look, that's all for you." She pointed to a covered dish, from under which the smell of ramen was emanating. His foot twitched despite his best efforts to remain unimpressed, and she grinned. "Now go get Sango and Miroku for me, please."

"What, I'm supposed to play fetch now?" Not all of his irritation was forced; he was still cursing and thanking that damnded cat for cutting in. _Whatever it was that made her stay, we'd both be regretting it now. _Well, he probably would be, anyway. He risked a peek over his shoulder as he slouched away: yep, she was still attractive beyond his capacity to put the proper adjectives together. _Stupid brain and nose, trying to push me into messing with her like some philandering slimeball like Miroku..._

Okay, that wasn't fair, either. The monk had had plenty of opportunity to say hell with his curse and pass it around as chance might see fit, but instead he chose to keep everything but his hands to himself. Which posed an interesting question, according to that weird conversation the girls had had—did that mean he loved them all, or was he just a good guy?

..._Then again, he really could've had Sango and just excused it 'cause she's been gone on him since the second month she was here and the curse is running out before any of _his _curse crap really matters..._

The wind shifted, and he wondered desperately if he was going to have to go out to the river again. _Why does hers...?! _Kikyou had always been careful to keep her scent under wraps, and the women who didn't take any precautions only interested him in an objective way, the way he'd notice if they smelled sick or pregnant. _Must still be 'cause she looks like her._

But that explanation didn't work any more, either. He knew Kagome was Kikyou as much as _he _was Kouga, except of course for the face thing. They didn't even smell alike. And it was affecting him now much worse than it did last month.

_Feh. Mom warned me about it happening sooner or later. But she just said to ignore it if I didn't want to marry that female..._

His footsteps slowed, then picked up again as he lost track of that maddening scent and his mind cleared. _Finally. Now, time to get the other guys. Maybe we can actually get them to _do _something tonight._

__

_

* * *

_

__

Sango had been doing quite a bit of thinking since that morning, and her tentatively formed resolution strengthened till she was quite sure that she'd have the courage to do it, given the proper chance.

...Not that she was exactly desperate for that chance to show itself, now that she saw him, of course...

"Of course," Miroku was saying to one – or was it more than one? – young woman in the center of a large cluster. "My father had the same problem himself. Of course, he only..." He caught her eye for a fraction of a second, just as she was about to look away, and faltered. She turned and made a beeline for the darkest corner of the yard she could.

Kagome, having set several children to the task of mastering and competing thus to see who could keep the hula hoops up the longest, set off to find her friends: Miroku was at his most rakish in the midst of a large group of females, Inuyasha was probably perched somewhere he couldn't smell her or hear the servants' newest tales about him, and Sango...where was she? _If she doesn't come tell Miroku to...ah._

"Sango?" Grateful that she'd sent Shippou to bed early but a little guilty that he'd miss this, Kagome spotted Kirara's eyes glowing faintly in the near-dark on Sango's lap and sighed. "Sango, come out and have something to eat."

"I've lost my appetite" was the curt reply.

"Fine." Kagome sighed theatrically and turned around, sauntering back under the lights and wishing Inuyasha was here and that she'd had some of that stupid tea so all that awkwardness would go away. _Stupid lust. Stupid stupid hormones. Gets in the way of everything._

She glanced at the monk again. _Why does he have to be so stubborn in a ridiculously nice-guy way? And why is a person as cool as Sango so ridiculously shy? Ah, well...I love 'em anyway. Granted, sometimes I wanna strangle 'em, but..._

"Oi." Inuyasha's voice behind her scared her for the umpzillionth time that day. "Geez, wench, relax." He had one sleeve draped over his nose and mouth, and he indicated several oddly shaped braziers. "Incense. Had to use it some time."

"Good idea." Kagome smiled but chose not to put her hand on his arm: best not to push it, happy as she was that he'd made the effort to be there. She dropped her voice. "So..."

"Sango is sitting over there and the bouzu's being an idiot."

"Read my mind. So what do we do?"

He dropped his voice, and when she finally caught it...

* * *

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"Hey, don't insult me. It's just the truth. I heard it not two minutes ago."

Miroku paused as Kagome and Inuyasha intercepted his path back to his harem. "Good evening, Inuyasha, Kagome-sama..."

"Miroku-sama! Would you say Sango-chan gets depressed easily?" Kagome demanded.

Pause. "Uh...I wouldn't think s—"

"There! See, wench? It's nothing. She's fine." Inuyasha would have folded his arms except for the necessity to keep one up to his nose, which forced him to waffle a bit before giving up.

"But she _was_! You're the one with the doggy ears. You should be able to hear her sniffling, at the very least," Kagome snapped.

"Sniffling?" Miroku repeated.

"Kagome insists that Sango's upset or something," Inuyasha said with a careless shrug. "I say she's an idiot."

"And I say _he's _an idiot and Sango is really feeling bad," Kagome retorted.

Miroku nodded thoughtfully, putting on his most serious face. "Hmmmm...this problem would either indicate that Sango-sama is in genuine distress, or that you two are fabricating this story in order to get me to go speak with her." He sighed and moved past them, missing their comically frozen expressions. "In either case, I bow to necessity, have no fear."

They waited till he was just a speck against the darkness of the far courtyard before speaking again. "At least it worked, I guess," Kagome said sheepishly.

"Yeah. Looks like they might actually get a good, private conversation for once. S'all they really need at this point anyway."

"Yeah, privacy's important. ...Where's a good place to watch?"

"C'mon, I'll show you a couple on the second floor. Now hurry it up so we don't miss it."

Inuyasha wisely let her have the closest window to where the monk and slayer were speaking in half-whispers, while he moved a safe distance away, still within range of his sensitive ears.

"...much to talk about," Sango said quietly, stroking Kirara.

"Indeed." Kagome couldn't see anything but silhouettes in the darkness, but as her eyes adjusted, sufficient detail became clear. Miroku transferred his staff to his left arm in order to scratch the fire-cat under the chin. "One appreciates how the dark and quiet can be appealing after too much light."

"And company?" Kagome winced at the slayer's acid question, and noted Inuyasha shaking his head far up and to her left. He glanced down at her, and they exchanged silent gestures of disgust.

"You've had very little thus far today," Miroku replied, and Kagome could imagine Sango's flush at the gentle reproof. "Would you care to take a walk around the courtyard with me, Sango-sama?"

"No, thank you, houshi-sama," she said quietly, and it was all Kagome could do to keep herself from screaming as the monk bowed and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Relief: Sango had risen and taken a few steps towards Miroku. "I...I just..." She steeled herself and came closer. "Does what you said to me still hold? You've resolved not to..."

"Yes." Gentle though his tone was, Miroku's voice was inflexible once more, and Kagome's heart sped up. "I would not inflict myself upon you for the world, Sango-sama."

"Do you believe what Kagome-chan said about marriage?" All three of her listeners blinked and looked at her curiously. She nodded resolutely at Miroku, who turned back to her. "A partnership, a bond between equals—my father endorsed much the same thing." Sango had his full attention now, and she swallowed hard, coming forward a little more. "Do you believe in it as the best way to go about that kind of union, or do you prefer women as most in our age do...did, rather, where our primary function is to keep house and have children, and _nothing _else?"

Kagome noted very idly that, without her corrupting, modern influence, Sango reverted to speaking almost as formally as Miroku. It was appropriate now, though, more than ever.

"...Before I met you, Sango-sama, I did not believe women capable of being anything else, with the exception of women like...priestesses, who in their devotion became almost less than human." Miroku bowed deeply, respect etched into every word. "You have proven me soundly and wholly wrong, and are the _last _woman I would therefore ever—"

"Make happy?" Sango took a deep breath, voice trembling but strong. "Tell me this much, if you still see yourself that way. If I was suffering from wound rot in my throwing arm and I refused to let you amputate, though it would surely mean my death, would you force it on me and keep me from doing what I know? What I would rather die than be without?"

"Sango-sama, that is hardly—"

"Would you?" she said loudly, firmly. "Would you take that decision from me and flout the respect you've just professed, disregard my capability to make the best choice for myself? Or would you let me keep it, knowing it would kill me?"

Kagome was not sure, but she thought she detected a hint of weakness in his reply. "Would you keep it knowing that your pain is mine, that my permitting you to keep it hurts me as well, and pain is inevitable no matter what decision is made, by whom?"

Sango's hands were clenched into fists and trembling. "You did not answer me. What if I, a mature woman and _your_ _equal_, decided that the risks were outweighed by the benefits?"

"I would seriously question whether, despite your intelligence, compassion and wisdom, you have any idea of what your decision will cost you in terms of sorrow and very possibly life."

"I would answer that I have lost _weeks_ of sleep debating those things, and not once, no matter how harshly I weighed them or how little emotion I allowed myself, did I ever question my feelings and what I would do because of them."

Miroku's resolve was crumbling fast. "If Inuyasha's curse does not claim us, I will not live more than three to five years longer at the very most, and any child I have will not grow older than I am now. Do you still—"

"Miroku!" Kagome covered her mouth as the monk inhaled sharply. Sango wiped her eyes roughly with the back of her hand, hiccupping slightly and speaking angrily through her tears. "Miroku, you idiot, I've already said yes! You just refused to accept it! And if you refuse it now..."

And Miroku let his staff fall as he rushed to envelop Sango in a crushing hug, cradling her as she sobbed in earnest. "You are _not _a disease," the slayer mumbled, freeing one hand long enough to thump him on the shoulder. "You _can't _keep insulting yourself like that. You _can't_! I love you too much to let you, d'you hear me?"

"I hear you, Sango," Miroku answered, tucking her head under his chin and smoothing her hair with such tenderness that Kagome was almost ashamed to be peeping. Almost. "So long as you know that if you can help it, I'd appreciate your not crying. I'd rather have another void placed within me than know I've caused it."

"It's a deal." Sango sniffled and broke into a self-conscious laugh. "I'm s-sorry, I've made such a mess of myself..."

"The most beautiful mess I've ever had the privilege to meet, dearest," Miroku answered, affection prevailing over whimsy as he turned her face this way and that gently.

Kagome thought she was going to implode. Her thoughts followed no real, cohesive thread save for an occasional _Atta girl!! _amongst the regular programming of _Yaaaaayeeeeee, that's so cuuuuute! Yaaaaay _and so forth.

Hyped up as she was, she almost missed Sango's whisper. "Dearest...I think I could get used to that." And when she leaned up to kiss him this time, she was _not _rejected; Miroku somehow managed to curl his body around hers and returned the favor with almost frightening intensity.

_Oh, my_. Kagome fanned herself and ducked back inside, face surely flaming. _Oh my oh my oh my._

"Looks like it's you and the runt tonight." Inuyasha's drawl at her side scared her yet again. "I wouldn't count on getting a lot of company from either of 'em after dark from now on if I were you."

"Did you see that? Didja didja didja?" Kagome was so happy for both of them that she could barely keep her voice down. "Oooooh, wait till the servants hear about this one—"

Before he could stop her, Kagome impulsively flung her arms around his shoulders and huggled his neck. "Sorry, had to do that so I won't throttle Shippou by accident," she said happily, nearly twirling in place.

"Crazy wench." Inuyasha concentrated very hard on something not related to her, the couple below them, or smells..._Wonder where the wolves got to? They'd better keep away from her the way she is now... _He growled unconsciously.

"Oh, behave. Let them have their moment. God knows they've earned it." Kagome hummed random snippets of nothing in particular and drifted around the hall. "Wonder where they'll sleep once it's official...ah, well. S'up to you."

"Would you stop that?" he snapped, cursing her for bringing up sleep. This was just getting ridiculous.

"'Kay." Kagome snapped to attention. "Permission to go to bed, sir!"

He nearly tore his hair out. "GO!"

Of course, he remembered It as she was trotting to the stairs, mindful of his condition but still in the Happy segment of La-La Land. Then it became a matter of whether it was really worth it to even try...and the fact that he'd had no sleep for the past two nights now finally, if barely, won out. "Wait a sec, wench."

Kagome paused at the top of the stairs. "Aye?"

Inuyasha approached cautiously, stopping just inside shouting range and projecting slightly. "Will you marry me?"

Kagome calmed down visibly, folding her hands behind her back and shaking her head with a sad little smile. "No, I won't, Inuyasha. May you be as happy as they are whenever you do get stuck with a wife, though." She bowed deeply from the waist, turned and went downstairs humming something sweet, melancholy and haunting.

Inuyasha would have been spared quite a bit of pacing, clawing at the tatami and dark thoughts that night if he'd known at almost as soon as she reached her room, Kagome brightened back up. _That's right, Sango won't be in here much anymore... _She couldn't resist a giggle. It was probably wrong to have such a girly reaction to an _un_-girly concept, but then, who the hell cared? _All that matters is, their kimono's finished! _And that set her off again.

It had been quite a day...she'd almost forgotten about Kikyou for the first time in several days. And Inuyasha...well... Kagome found herself tapping her lips contemplatively and shrugged it off with a rueful laugh, startling Shippou out of his fur ball on her pillow, the only item to have been cleaned and returned already. She settled into Sango's futon. _Wonder what would've happened minus Buyo... _The fat calico was probably in the kitchens. It had taken him two minutes to figure out where the dried fish was kept and three more how to get into it. _Maybe..._

But as her mind cast back to Miroku and Sango, a snort was her first reaction. Inuyasha, being like _that_? No, he wasn't quite the romantic type...a good guy to be sure, and she liked being with him, but he wasn't _her _type.

...Was he?

* * *

A/N: You're welcome.

If your teeth hurt and/or you're not satisfied, you're welcome anyway.

I wrote this entire frickin' thing, irate first A/N and all, in 10 hours. One sitting. Occasionally it was a crouching because my legs hurt, but I digress. My head feels like it's been stuffed with an old gym sock. I need sleep. I like this chapter perhaps best of all thus far, though. Go figure. Now gimme candy, someone...or accolades, I like those, too...

Two things. One, if you like Fruits Basket and you're sick of the usual romance plots, go read "Karma" by my little sis. (Not her actual pen name. My brain hurts.) It doesn't suck.

Two, this'n is dedicated to my bf, whose absence has inspired me to greater heights of angst than I hath ever known. May I try to utilize it wisely. But first, edit, upload and sleep for me.


	21. Unfairness

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and the other characters portrayed herein are not mine. Desu. Yeah.

A/N: You guys rule. :D I like candy, even the imaginary kind, and I got lots of it. Therefore I am happy, largely thanks to (re)viewers like you. Yep. I'm just that shallow and easily swayed. Anyway, here we go with another chapter o'...

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 21**

The next four days weren't as bad as Inuyasha expected, especially the very next one; he'd thought it'd just consist of having to avoid Kagome, behave himself at dinner and then think of, say, his brother naked, and instantly go to sleep in mental self-defense. Unpleasant, but manageable.

Reality was different, of course: to use one of Kagome's favorite phrases, it completely and utterly _sucked._

For one thing, he found that wherever he went, Kagome was somehow either already there or just heading there, and he would have to go elsewhere as discreetly and quickly as possible. Kaede grew so tired of having him drop by her hut to ask if there wasn't _something _to be done, regardless of how many times she told him that the necessary herbs to mask that scent once it started didn't grow nearby, that she took to staying in the shrine, where he couldn't get in and eventually had to give up trying.

Another thing: Miroku wasn't available to spar with or pick upon to distract himself nearly as often as usual, and when he did reappear, especially the first day after the party, it was with such a smug expression that Inuyasha wanted to knock his teeth out.

"I can hardly believe you'd begrudge us under the circumstances, and after all the time we've known each other," the monk said reasonably, settling down as Inuyasha picked at his lunch. "And how are you doing today?"

"Go to hell."

Miroku quirked an eyebrow, then became solemn. "Ah, yes, Kagome-sama. I forgot."

"How the hell could you forgot somethin' like _that_ when..." Inuyasha growled and tore at his food, mindless of whatever he was putting in his mouth. _No way I'm tellin' him I can smell Sango on him like stink on a dead fish. _The analogy was perversely satisfying, though he knew he'd feel bad for it later. _Much _later, at this rate.

"Yes, indeed. You must forgive me." Miroku coughed delicately and leaned forward. "My further apologies, but I do seem to recall a slight bargain we made not long ago regarding that..."

"What?" Inuyasha glared at him.

Miroku shrugged and affected a thoughtful pose, ignoring the hanyou's increasingly murderous gaze. "Silly of me, but I have some strange perception that you have forgotten that you refused to take my advice regarding Kagome-sama until I...what was it? Oh yes, 'solved my own problems.'" He raised both hands in a careless shrug. "My simplicity of mind must surely be to blame, though one wonders whether—"

"_Okay! _What the hell is your point?!"

Inuyasha was mistaken in thinking the monk couldn't make him any angrier at this point, as Miroku had only to lean in further and lower his voice to a tactful whisper. "Nothing, except of course that if you wish for any direction in the proper courting, er, _techniques—"_

It was pure coincidence that a servant was right outside the room, cleaning the floorboards and therefore in perfect position to hear a bellowed promise of death and catch sight of Miroku speeding out of the room just ahead of Inuyasha's clawed grip. "Get your ass back here!" the latter requested at maximum volume, and Miroku prudently ran faster, not stopping until he was two floors away and Inuyasha was standing on the third floor landing, glaring down and giving several other passing servants great interest in studying the floor till he stalked back into his room. Then, of course, it was time to update on the fact that Sango and Miroku had been spotted walking arm-in-arm this morning, and the servants fell to it with a vengeance.

That was fairly bad. It was almost dinnertime before he knew it – sulking could prove a highly effective way of passing the time, after all – and he was trying to dread Kagome's arrival as he set up several pots of incense. _This is gonna be such a pain in the ass..._

Grumbling gave him something to do, not to mention an excuse to ignore the fact that every time he heard footsteps on the stairs, his ears twitched eagerly in case she was coming early. It took a lot of work to keep himself from admitting that the worse part of the whole stupid scent thing was simply that he couldn't go bug her when he wanted to, and it was appalling how much he missed it already.

And it didn't fill time well enough to keep him from noticing when the point of her usual arrival approached, then lengthened and passed, and she still hadn't come. With the room teeming with woody incense and the food sitting ready, Inuyasha had nothing to do but sit and wait, drumming new holes into the tatami until he couldn't take it anymore. He focused long enough to check in her room, which was empty. _Dammit, then she should be here already._

He had no reason to be acting this paranoid. She always came up at dinner, except when she was sick or pissed at him, and so far as he knew, neither applied now.

..._So where the hell is she?!_

That was it. He got up, threw the shoji opened and stalked out.

* * *

Kagome knew she should've left earlier, but she had been explaining how to play Solitaire and somehow the conversation had shifted around to modern games, and the cards – and the time – got lost as her audience's interest grew.

"So one manipulates these pre-made pictures and words for entertainment?" Miroku scratched his head. "And the images are contained in..."

"A T...V, was that was it's called?" Sango had a little trouble pronouncing the foreign syllables, and Kagome repeated them a few times in the Japanese way, nodding. "Like the one you have here?"

"Could we see, Kagome-sama?" Kohaku asked eagerly, and Shippou regarded the formerly neglected TV box with wide-eyed anticipation, as if it were about to burst open and start performing magic tricks for them.

To their disappointment, Kagome shook her head. "Nope, it needs a power source, like the computer. It'd need a much bigger battery than the laptop or the Discman, too, and so would the video game system. Pretty much everything these days either needs electricity or batteries."

"Could you ask the w..." Kohaku bit his lip at Sango's stern look. "I apologize, Kagome-sama."

"I guess I could, but it's too expensive," Kagome answered, smiling and shrugging to reassure him. "I owe them enough already, and there would be no way I could repay them the cost of batteries with enough power for the laptop, TV _and _PlayStation. It's too bad, though. I'd love to show them to you—and that's not even including DVDs!"

And that launched another looong explanation of portable stories in play-like form, but much more realistic, and she was trying to explain how one crammed all those people into a palm-sized disc when it occurred to her that it was getting quite difficult to see. "Wait...how late is it, Sango?"

Sango paused, frowned thoughtfully, and got to her feet. "...Miroku, Kohaku and Shippou, out. Kagome-chan is almost an hour late."

Roughly two minutes later, Kagome emerged from the room and set off towards the stairs at maximum permissible speed, leaving Miroku and Sango to disappear outside: they'd agreed that Sango would spend every other night with Kagome so as not to abandon her duties, but it was still deemed wise to take advantage of any spare time that might come their way. Kohaku and Shippou went off to find new victims to play cards with, and Kagome breathed a sigh of relief that Inuyasha hadn't come looking for her and made a scene. Shippou had already overheard the servants' interpretation of his eruption at Miroku that morning (namely, that it had been jealousy over Sango—universal opinion held that it was just like him to get so worked up over such an idiotic thing), and Kagome knew things had to be hard enough for him as things were.

Little did she know...

"Kagome!" A soft _whoosh _and a few startled gasps of servants in his way heralded a very unwelcome sight: Kouga leaped to a stop right in front of her and bowed. "It's been too long. I heard you were sick; how you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you." She tried to move around him, then stopped and did a double take. "Wha..."

"So you didn't see at first?" Kouga grinned, and the image she'd just caught rippled back into the wolf lord's real form as he shrugged. "I'm still workin' on it. How's it look? Like a human?"

"Yeah," she managed, squinting as he smirked and placed his fists on his hips, letting her get a more coherent look at a handsome, clean-cut young businessman, very sharp in an expensive charcoal business suit and unquestionably human. "How'd you do that?"

Inuyasha paused at the top of the first-floor stairs, lip curling as the odor of wolf assaulted his nostrils and Kagome's voice drifted up. _He even _thinks _of touching her and I'll...!_

"Not bad, eh?" Kouga shrugged again, and she tried not to giggle as only his tail flicked into her vision, suit still intact. "I'm posing as their partner's grandnephew, though how the hell that old fart could be related to _me _is way beyond me."

Kagome laughed outright, then put a hand to her mouth in chagrin. "I'm sorry, but your tail..." She coughed as Kouga glanced behind him curiously. "Never mind. You do look pretty impressive."

"Yep. Can't wait for the chance to test it on some normal humans who're used to it." He cocked an eyebrow and leaned in conspiratorially. "So, they didn't dress me up as a dung seller and tell me I look respectable, did they?"

"No, no, you're the epitome of 'young, rich and better than you,'" Kagome assured him, laughter fading under a sudden, slight chill. She glanced around Kouga towards the stairs, but nothing was there.

"Good." Completely missing her change of mood, Kouga crossed his arms and tapped one foot, shiny shoe fading into clawed foot as it moved. "So, I was wondering...do you do anything in the mornings?"

"Mornings?" That reminded her vaguely that she had somewhere to be now, but Kouga was being so congenial that she couldn't think of a good excuse to get rid of him. "No. Why?"

"Ginta tells me you know English pretty well, and though I trust 'em to tell me what it is I need to know, he and Hakkaku are still idiots. I was thinkin'..." He shrugged and smiled winningly. "I'd much rather spend the time I'll need to learn it with you than either of those guys. D'you think you could teach me? They say it'll help if I'm gonna be leading the pack in this time." His smile darkened. "And there's no way in hell some dumbass curse is gonna keep me from taking my place again."

Kagome swallowed a rush of uneasiness at the way that last bit seemed to be largely for _her _benefit, and surprised – and slightly flattered – as she was by the request, it also reminded her just why it was that she'd been apprehensive about going to see Inuyasha. "Um...well, I wouldn't mind at all, but you do understand it wouldn't change anything. I'm still not..."

"Don't be so nervous." Kouga waved one hand dismissively, the other planted on his hip. "Course you're, well, pretty vulnerable right now, but _some _of us learn not to get so touchy about it. Like I said before, I'm not forcing you just 'cause you smell ready."

"...Oh." Kagome bowed slightly to cover her slight flush. Did he have to be so direct about it? _And it's not Inuyasha's fault. I'm the one who forgot the damn tea... _

Telling Kouga as much would only give him further ammunition against the hanyou, though, and she was pretty sure the servants would be more than happy to tell Kouga the details about their lord's weakness anyway. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind teaching you some English. I'm a little rusty, but—"

"That's okay. They looked at your school records and said you made some of the highest grades in your class—" It was clear that the wolf had only the faintest notion of what that meant. "—so I'll trust you. You're not exactly dumb, either."

"Uh...thanks." Kagome bowed again and tried to shuffle around him. "I need to get going. Inuyasha's expecting me at dinner and I'm really late as it is."

"Oh, yeah, part of the curse, right?" Kouga's nose wrinkled in disdain. "Man, I'm sorry. Having to eat with him and then put up with him propositioning you every night? That's really gotta—"

Chills trickled down Kagome's spine like ice water, and she cut the wolf off with "I'll see you tomorrow morning after breakfast outside my room, okay? G'night," then dodged around and nearly ran up the stairs, two at a time.

Two steps past the landing, and she froze: Inuyasha was standing less than three feet behind her, and she could _feel _his gaze. "Inuyasha..." She turned to face him, smoothing the front of her black jeans nervously. It wasn't that he scared her, of course, but geez, his eyes were almost glowing! "I'm really sorry I'm so late. I just lost track of time and then Kouga—"

"I know exactly what happened." She flinched at the coldness behind the five quiet, terse words. "Come on. Let's get this over with."

And before Kagome could so much as open her mouth, Inuyasha was gone. She gaped at the spot where he'd just been standing. _That effing coward couldn't even walk back up with me! _

Before she could remember that she wasn't supposed to yet, Kagome closed her eyes, forced her anger into concentration, and 'threw' herself into Inuyasha's room, right into her usual spot.

"Idiot" was the first thing she heard, as soon as her head cleared and she could sit up.

He was already eating, and she took grim satisfaction in pretending not to notice how he watched her rub her temples and shake her head slightly. True, she _did _have a bit of a headache, but...

But then, a few minutes later, she caught him eyeing her hand as she picked a stray hair off the front of her mint-green blouse. Her only acknowledgement was to use that hand to flip him off, and his eyes jerked back to his meal with a little too much speed for his mumbled protests to carry any weight. _Nice to know his mind's still in the gutter, crappy incense or not!_

Actually, the incense smelled quite nice, and she would have relished the quiet, perfumed atmosphere any other time. Now, however, it only served to remind her that Inuyasha had had to prepare an olfactory defense against her – against himself, more like – and irritated her further. The quiet was rife with tension, unspoken but as nerve-racking as any shouting match.

They were almost finished when it became too much for her to handle. "Look, I'm sorry about my smell, but otherwise I—"

"Give it a rest." Inuyasha glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, then averted them as soon as contact was made. "Just as long as you take that damn tea next time."

"That's not why you're treating me like I've done something wrong, though, is it?" Kagome was _not _going to let this one go. "It's not my fault he said those things, okay? And I don't think any less of you for—"

"Just...shut..._up_."

She willed her jaw to relax; grinding her teeth wouldn't be particularly helpful here. "I am _not _going to shut up till you stop giving me the silent treatment! You talked to me yesterday, and nothing's changed since then, has it?"

"Nothing's changed?" he repeated acidly. "You cozying up to that flea-bitten slimeball, telling him how _good _he looked and how successful he was gonna be, laughing at his shitty jokes and arranging to spend the mornings together _isn't a change_?! What've you been doing behind my back if that's _not a change_?!"

"Your stupid paranoia sure as hell hasn't changed!" Battle lines drawn, they glared at each other across the table, Inuyasha discreetly turning his head toward the nearest urn as her anger-edged scent spiked enough to cut through the incense. "If you'd been paying attention and using the sense of any two-year-old, you would've seen me being polite, not throwing myself at him!"

"Don't patronize me, bitch! I _saw _how he was looking at you, okay?! It takes a lot less than _being polite _to encourage that!"

"So you're blaming _me _for not kneeing him in the groin just because he's attracted to me?! Is that it, you jealous asswipe?!"

"I am _not _jealous! It just pisses me off to hear you trying to convince me that there's nothing going on when you're in heat, you _know _I can't take it and you're agreeing to spend lots of time _alone _with that damn wolf!"

"So what you're saying is that you're jealous! And you're still blaming me for his behavior!" She matched him glare for glare: if he thought he could keep it up longer, her years of childhood staring contests with her siblings said he had another think coming. "If Miroku were to grab me somewhere, would you say it was my fault for being in his reach?"

"When did he...?!" Inuyasha leaped to his feet.

"Sit _down_! It was an example! I'm _trying_ to get you to see that your snarling at me for the way Kouga acts is beyond stupid, unfair, and insensitive! Do you think I _like _knowing someone I'm not interested in is constantly drooling at me?" She was too worked up to notice him cringe. "Do you think I _like _him just assuming that I'm his property when I barely know him at all and don't even remotely like him that way?! Do you think I'm comfortable knowing I'm going to have to fend him off for God knows how long, maybe the rest of my _life_?! And where the hell do you get off saying it's _my _fault for being the one who has to put up with all this when the one who's supposed to be fending this guy off for me can't even get near me because I forgot to drink my Anti-Whore potion for the month?!"

Inuyasha's chest was painfully tight. "Look, Kagome, don't—"

"No! _You _look! I don't like Kouga bothering me, but what _really _upsets me is the way you're acting about it! In case I have to spell it out for you, I care _way _the hell more what you think that about him! You're just too busy turning me into some lying trollop and convincing yourself that he's better than you to notice!" By now, she was leaning over the table, hands planted on either side, tears brimming and voice raised enough to hurt her own ears, never mind his. "It's called a self-defeating prophecy, Inuyasha! You think everyone hates you, so you act like such an asshole that even the ones who actually like you don't want to be around you anymore! And then you feel sorry for yourself 'cause you're alone! Does that sound familiar?! Huh? Does it?!"

_Oh shit I'm going to make her cry again and it's all my fault— _Inuyasha raised one hand placatingly as her arms began trembling and her scent turned acrid with hurt. "Kagome, stop—"

"Stop what?! Speaking for myself? Pointing out the obvious?" If he thought he could reason with her when she was in full cry and in the grip of PMS, he was _sorely _mistaken yet again. "I don't give a crap about Kouga as anything other than a potential friend, but if you're going to turn into a controlling, insecure, jealous..._whatever _again, I'm going to go talk to someone who's honest enough about his own damn feelings for me to deal with! And if you want to stop me, I'll _thank _you to remember I am _me, not_ a bitch in heat, _not_ some brainless doll who needs to be told what to do, _not _a slut, _not _yours _or _his, and _not putting up with this any more_!"

Painful quiet seeped into the room as she gulped, trying to catch her breath. Inuyasha's ears were pinned flat against his skull, chest even more horribly constricted at what he'd done. "Th...that's not what...dammit, Kagome, I didn't mean to—"

"Why am I even here?"

The dull whisper scared him much worse than the scream he'd expected. "Wh..."

"Why am I here if all I'm going to do is get in the way and fight with you?" Kagome's fingers picked listlessly at imaginary threads in her jeans' seams. All her adrenaline seemed to recede like a very angry tide, waiting for another swing of mood to call her energy forth again. "There's just no point. All we ever do is hurt each other."

"That's not true." Inuyasha gulped, wondering if it was safe to try to touch her. Instinct warned him that discretion was probably his friend here, even without considering her scent. "You saved my life, and then you've made the runt happy, and you got Sango and the bouzu together—"

"Why? So everyone can die in two months?"

Inuyasha's lungs squeezed themselves empty, and he could only watch as she pushed herself to her feet. "Good night, Inuyasha. I apologize for yelling at you. There are some things you're better off not hearing, even if they're true."

And she quietly slid the shoji open and closed.

The count of three...one, as air slowly crept back into his chest...two, as guilt was overwhelmed by terror...three, as his feet twitched back into life...and he was up.

"Kagome!" He flung the shoji aside and charged down the hall, skidding around the corner and accosting the nearest servant, whose wide eyes indicated that she'd heard the whole thing. "You! Where did she go?!"

"K-Kagome-sama?" The old woman swallowed hard and shook her head wildly. "She d-didn't c-come this w-way, Inuyasha-sama."

Inuyasha loosed a string of curses that nearly turned the woman's gray hair white and darted back into his room to scan the castle for her. _Her room's empty...where the hell else would she be?!_

To his amazement, he caught her just as she was leaving the kitchens, apparently munching on something, and he followed without a second thought. But the moment she saw him next to her, the strained cheerfulness on her features contorted so badly that he held up his hands. "Kagome, listen to—"

She was gone again. He cursed again, this time with enough vitriol to send everyone in hearing into a floor-flat bow, and stalked down to her room, throwing open the shoji and deliberately blocking the door as she started, large bag in her hands. "You can go if you want to, Kagome, but don't use your power or you'll hurt yourself. Just let me exp—"

_This _time his roar of anger and frustration was loud enough for Sango and Miroku to hear outside as they were returning to the castle. "What was that?" Sango asked.

"It sounded like..." There was no need to finish that. They traded worried looks; Sango put her fingers to her mouth and whistled shrilly, crouching to speak to Kirara as the fire-cat bounded up. "Are there any demons in the castle, Kirara?"

The little cat mewed, and long experience enabled Sango to interpret it as a negative. "Are they just fighting again?"

A near roll of fiery eyes answered her more than satisfactorily, and they sighed in unison as a red blur burst out of the castle and was at their side in moments. "Have you seen—ow!"

"Whatever you did, Kagome-sama is not with us," Miroku answered, replacing his staff.

"Yes, and it's your job to fix it, not ours," Sango said sternly. "Does this have anything to do with the fact that Kouga looks more smug than usual?"

* * *

Kagome didn't know why she'd grabbed the bag. She wasn't really planning to run away, and she wouldn't have taken only that bag if she did. It only contained a few old magazines, some older clothes and her bathing suit, not to mention a few pieces of candy she'd squirreled away a few months before this whole mess started...ah. That was it: chocolate. She'd been looking for something to take away the taste in her mouth.

Where had she taken herself to...? By the half-moon overhead, she was willing to bet she recognized the tree where...where he'd almost kissed her.

_O-kay, new subject. _Her mind, still numb from her rant at Inuyasha and three jumps in a row, just wasn't willing to deal with that right now.

The strain of moving around had made her thirsty, of all things, and she was hot. _Didn't he jump in a river around here? _Kagome mentally retraced her position yesterday and his steps, then set off in that direction and momentarily heard a muted dribbling of water over rock. _Bingo._

It was actually quite a large river, much less noisy than she would've thought by looking at it. She glanced around for potential danger, set the bag down on the bank, peeled off her socks and stepped in, sucking her breath in sharply. _Man, that feels great._

Thoughts still moving rather slowly, Kagome considered the water, then the sky, then glanced behind her. With no scent to track, what were the odds he'd find her here any time soon?

_Not good, I hope. _Kagome grimaced and stepped back onto the bank, listening and tentatively trying to 'feel' around her for any presence that she might object to, or vice versa, and finding none. _Here goes..._

Despite all the scenarios going through her head of what might happen while she was slipping on the bathing suit – it was almost suspiciously convenient that she'd grabbed it, after all, and this could be the universe's setup for the punchline of some sick joke involving her clothes getting stolen by monkeys, or Kouga peeping, or Inuyasha...well, doing anything – Kagome managed to get into it and hide her clothes under a nearby rock with no trouble.

A long sigh of pure bliss escaped her as she waded in up to her knees, then crouched and eased herself down onto her rear, sliding forward till the slope gave sharp way to a deep bottom. Unable to resist the touch of cool water on her hot skin, Kagome took a long breath, then dove neatly under, reveling in the shock of near-cold on her face and scalp as she broke the surface, then floated on her back for a few minutes, staring at the sky without really thinking.

A movement of clouds over the moon caught her eye, and she frowned, letting her body slide under the water sideways and coming back up to paddle to the middle of the river. _Stupid moon. ...I still think my being here is pointless. Maybe I did save his life then, but..._

But...what? _"But he was going to die soon anyway?"_

_That's no reason to let anything happen. No one knows what's gonna happen, and even if it was definite, I'd say he should have at least that much time left._

_"But the curse would've ended if I'd just let the spider take him?"_

_That's even dumber! For all we know, the castle would've exploded like a bad American action movie if he died!_

But...why was she so upset that she was arguing with herself? She'd suffered mood swings before, of course, enough to know that she was doing so now, but she'd never blown up _that_ badly at anyone, not even Inuyasha when she first met him and despised him, though that was close.

..._Did I? It doesn't feel like I've ever hated him..._

A stray memory of calling him a fuzzy asshole made her smile weakly, and she swam in slow circles, letting herself drift closer to the bank with each turn. _No, I definitely hated him for a little while there. That was before I knew how pathetic he is. ...Well, can be. Maybe that's why he's making me feel so helpless._

Her arms stilled as she swept them back to carry her to the bank. Instead, Kagome kicked out and propelled herself back to the middle. _No, that can't be it. He's not pathetic. Not even when he was hurt. _The feeling of his arm across her hip came back to her so vividly that she dropped beneath the surface to cool her face. _No, I wanted him to feel better, but I didn't pity him, either._

_Ah, but he's better now. Why are you still obsessing over him? Why do you feel so helpless, then? Why do you care so much about his stupid insecurities when you both know he's just showing he cares, in his own idiot way?_

A lead weight seemed to rise in her throat. And an image she'd been suppressing, lurking half-unseen in the back of her mind since late last night, suddenly emerged with mocking clarity: an amalgam of Sango and Miroku, completely absorbed with each other – oh, hell with the euphemisms, they were making out – and herself, sitting on Inuyasha's lap, with no cat to...

Two sudden, violent dives under the water did nothing to clear the hot tears threatening to spill over her eyelids, and Kagome chewed her lips in a habitual, utterly pointless attempt to hold them back. What was _wrong _with her? One fight with Inuyasha, one in which she did 90 percent of the fighting even after he seemed ready, willing and then eager to sue for peace, and she was a complete mess.

Deep breaths. In. Out. _Feel the water, Kag. Listen to your heart pounding, try to slow it down, clear your mind. _The simple meditation exercise worked slowly, steadily helping her to focus. _You're upset with yourself because you're too upset. You're also upset with yourself because, as happy as you really are for Sango and Miroku, you're so jealous you can hardly see straight. _That admission hurt, very badly, but she had never been one to lie to herself, and she could hardly start now. _And you're jealous, not because of Miroku...no, not him, not Kouga. The only one you've been thinking, angsting, dreaming and borderline obsessing about all this time, and the one you're _really _regretting missing that opportunity with...c'mon, Kag, you know this one..._

The little piece of her still in denial pounced on one word as she drifted back towards the bank again. _Obsessing? Yeah, I've done that before—when I was thirteen and I had a crush on Ataru's best friend. Or Gackt, or any other rock star or pop idol or cute guys I saw. Thinking about someone a lot doesn't mean crap._

_Those were crushes, Kag, and you know it. _Those _were all playing pretend, hero worship, nothing. You have _never_ felt anything like this before._

More memory replayed itself, stretching in a loop of soft images, sound, smell and sensation melding every so often to make it all the more poignant: Inuyasha looking away, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing like a schoolgirl; Inuyasha letting her pick the rice out of his hair after their food fight; laying quietly and letting her braid it and tug on it, giving her that sleepy red glare and her just smiling back, knowing he wasn't really mad...when did she get so comfortable around him?...him holding her head, sweeping the hair back, watching his claws and not saying a word, just letting her be sick and cleaning up without complaint even though the stench had to be awful for his nose...and that horrible night, when she'd thought he was dead or was going to die any second, she was really going to lose him...

Even as her feet touched the bank and she pulled herself out onto the largest nearby rock, even as her heart broke anew and she let her vision blur and the tears slipped free, Kagome had to choke back a bitter little laugh. How could she have been so _stupid_?

How could she have not known she had fallen in love with him?

There. It was out, and a sense of relief enveloped her briefly, as if to reward her honesty with herself before she could consider the ramifications of it.

_No, not stupid. More like...careless. Or just out of luck._

She laughed again, ending on a sob as the rest of her flared in indignation at the thought that she should never have met Inuyasha. _So much for relief._

To be sure, she was a mess now, and if not for Inuyasha, she never would've gotten stuck in the castle, or caught Kouga's eye, or been a target for demons or vengeful priestesses whose soul she happened to share...

Her whole body went still as compassion blanked everything for a moment. Kikyou. Poor Kikyou. Had she ever sat and cried like this, feeling alone and unsure and helpless, maybe a little disgusted with herself?

_No. Not disgusted_. Inuyasha might look pretty weird, but even his demonic eyes were so...well, they were never frightening, and sometimes, when he let his guard down, they grew so gentle, calm, almost affectionate. His fangs and claws, she'd long since grown used to: they were simply a part of him, as were his hair, ears...they were _him_.

No, Kagome could _never _find him disgusting, or chastise herself for caring about him. If Kikyou had, Kagome could only pity the prejudice and rigidity of thought and class that had separated them, for nothing else could've produced the mixed feelings the priestess had obviously harbored. Why else would she have asked him to use the Jewel to change the very definition of his existence, however much he might have hated it himself?

But, self-disgust or no, there was no denying that it hurt, like a deep, pressing ache in her chest that she wasn't sure how to relieve. _Books and TV don't tell you about this part..._

Kagome sighed, laying her head down in her arms. What was she going to do with herself now?

A wild, errant thought caught her breath: say yes to Inuyasha the next time he asked. Marry him, break the curse, and tell Kouga where he could shove his offers to fake deeds and provide for the family, let all her new friends live here for the rest of their lives in peace and raise a family of her own...

The tears began to regroup as reality shattered the little dream before it was even half-formed. Kouga was _not _going to go away, and even if he didn't force the issue – she believed him that far, at least – he really didn't have to, under the circumstances. Even if Kagome married Inuyasha, what would that do to her family? The curse, once broken, wouldn't shelter them or provide free food any more, and the servants, not to mention her friends and would-be husband – she kicked herself at the way the word made her head go light – had no clue how to read katakana or a subway map, much less survive in the modern world. Having a bigger, non-leaking roof over her father and siblings' heads was all very nice, but they couldn't eat the castle or protect it from the inevitable questions of where it came from, who all these people were, why they weren't paying any taxes, no birth certificates...

Quiet sniffles choked into real sobs as the last point made itself achingly clear: _And who said Inuyasha _wants_ to get tied to you and have to live the rest of his however-long life knowing he killed the woman he really loved and now gets stuck with...?_

_

* * *

_

__

Help arrived from an unexpected quarter in Inuyasha's increasingly desperate trek through the woods. "She's not here, Inuyasha. I suggest you direct your search towards the river."

Inuyasha nearly jumped out of his skin. "Kikyou! What the...?"

The voice came as before from the branches above his head, but even in the dim moonlight, no priestess was visible. "Merely a word of advice. And tread carefully lest she pull you in. The girl seems quite upset for some reason." The barest hint of a smirk in her neutral tone left little doubt that Kikyou knew exactly why Kagome was upset.

Inuyasha stared up at the branches, but there was nothing more save the stirring of the wind through the leaves. He shook his head wildly to clear it and turned in the direction of the river. _Kagome...!_

But his half-imagined fears of Kagome having thrown herself in were thoroughly unfounded; he felt a little stupid as he stopped and came up close enough to watch her swim up to the bank and climb onto a rock. _Sheesh. After all that worrying I did, she's just been taking it easy?_

That was when he smelled the distinct and dreaded salt of tears, and his stomach flip-flopped. _So she was... _Sure enough, her head went down into her arms and her shoulders began to heave as the sounds of crying – that horrible, quiet kind he'd heard only once before – scraped at his ears, and he flinched back into the trees.

Conflicting emotion arose, warring violently over the best options: should he leave, let her work it out and come back? Leave entirely, as – much as he despised his body for recognizing it as an option at all – her obvious vulnerability didn't change the fact that she still smelled That Way and wasn't dressed in more than a piece of fabric that left her limbs bare?

The first choice grew vastly in appeal as she stopped crying, lifted her head and went very quiet, unmoving, and Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief. A second later, she rested her cheek on her arms again, and a little smile played around her lips. He would have left if the sight had permitted, but her wet hair plastered to her neck, green material clinging and arms wrapped around her bare knees...what male at all inclined towards women _wouldn't _have paused for a longer look?

All thoughts of admiring the view dissolved into worry as her face slowly crumpled, and Inuyasha reacted instantly as Kagome began to cry again, even harder and more heartbroken: he was beside her and crouching to try and look her in the eyes, speaking softly, before either of them were aware of it. "Oi. Are you okay?"

He held on to that worry as she started so violently that he had to grab her to keep her from falling off the rock, and her scent spiked yet again—not in anger, though. "Th-thanks," she whispered, crossing her arms and trying halfheartedly to lean away.

"What the hell are you doing out here? I thought you'd drowned yourself or something." Inuyasha let her go and moved away.

Kagome laughed shortly and shook her head, spraying him with drops and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "No, just got hot and wanted a swim." _God, his timing sucks! _There was no denying she was glad to see him, of course, but...

"Swim, eh?" Mind racing for ways to distract her from the sorrow he could feel and smell her giving off, he wrinkled his nose and folded his arms. "I hate water."

Kagome didn't so much as look up. "That's too bad. Swimming is pretty fun."

Inuyasha risked a glance at her, startled by the lack of response. _Man, I didn't know I upset her _that _much. She's not even gonna tease me about pushing me in? _"Look, I didn't mean all that crap the way it came out. I just don't want that damn wolf to hurt you, and I got a little carried away."

"I know. You can't help acting like a jerk. It's just what you do."

Even _that _sounded completely dejected. Hmmm.

Later that night, he would try to look back and justify his next move as being in Kagome's best interest, as she obviously needed to get her mind off their fight. Honestly, though, it was his nose that made him do it. That and a little old-fashioned curiosity...

"So what's that stuff made out of?" Inuyasha leaned over a little too close and succeeded in getting her wide-eyed attention as he tapped her wet one-piece's shoulder strap. "Weird..."

"It's a bathing suit." Kagome leaned away just a bit, wondering if her meal and/or the water had somehow miraculously eradicated her smell. "It's designed to go swimming in, and the material is supposed to get wet."

"Huh. Weird." Kagome tried not to squeak as he very carefully plucked at the strap with the sides of his fingers and his claws very delicately grazed skin. "Mind if I feel it?"

That statement was enough to send Kagome's brain in the other direction, and she just stopped herself from slapping him into next week by realizing his real meaning and nodding once.

Inuyasha deftly threaded one finger under the strap and lifted it with a slight sweep over her shoulder, and he forced his attention on the material and not the warm, damp skin _right there_. "So you say it's supposed to get wet? What happens when it dries?"

No answer. He rubbed the strap between thumb and forefinger for a few moments, then risked a glance up. Kagome was looking up at him almost fearfully, eyes brimming yet again and that thin, bitter sadness odor stinging the back of his throat.

"That _does _it!" Inuyasha dropped the strap half on, half off her shoulder and plucked her off the rock, taking her spot and setting her on his lap in a very familiar pose. "No fucking cats this time..."

And only two things saved him...one was that the strap he'd failed to replace properly gave him a moment's _very _interesting pause as it fell a little further down, and the view became a lot more notable. The other was when he glanced up, caught Kagome half-seriously glaring at him, and leaned in to catch her next word full in the face. "Hentai."

The next thing she knew, she had fallen off his lap as he leapt to his feet, staggered towards the river, and dunked his head in, pulling back up with half his mane soaked and his eyes bulging, turning to fix her with a disbelieving glare. "Gods, woman, what did you _eat_?!"

That was when Kagome, reeling from the physical and emotional shock, remembered some of the food she'd made for last night's party, and what she'd been trying to get out of her mouth with chocolate before she went to bed. "Oh. Garlic. Garlic _bread, _actually, but the second batch had way too much garlic in it, 'cause I'm the only one who likes it that way...are you okay?" Her voice sounded rather stupid, even to her own ears, but Inuyasha was too busy scooping up water and trying to gargle his mouth clear to notice.

Needless to say, when he recovered sufficiently to get up and accuse her of trying to kill him, the mood was clearly the biggest victim, and it was with little grace that he offered to give her a ride back to the castle. "My nose is dead for hours, thanks to you, and if you even think of using your power again for a _long _time, I'm gonna tie you to a stake in the courtyard," he grumbled, collecting her bag and her clothes. There was no point to her changing back if she was going to be riding against a mess of wet hair, after all.

They were about halfway back when she spoke next to his ear. "Inuyasha?" His chest rumbled in acknowledgment. "Are...are you happy I'm here? Or am I just a pain in the ass?"

His loping run faltered, and to her dismay, he slowed till they were walking. "Did I hear that right, wench?" She made a confirming noise. "Thought so."

They walked in silence for a minute. At that pace, she really could've done so herself, but she held her peace: this was small comfort for that extremely uncomfortable feeling of hope-dread-more hope-slight relief-crushing disappointment _again_.

"Yes."

"Huh?" She blinked at his ears, and they seemed to twitch in response.

"Yes, you're a pain in the ass." That was expected, and Kagome waited patiently for more. Sure enough... "But you're m...you're _our _pain in the ass, and if you were to leave, curse or not, this place would suck a lot more than it does already. That good enough for you?"

"Yep." Kagome hugged his shoulders as hard as she could, and he squeezed her bare legs briefly in response. Then he picked up a trot, breaking back into a run as they moved through more familiar trees.

A sense of peace settled over Kagome, more permanent than before, as she dismounted and Inuyasha gruffly refused to give her the bag till they were safely inside near her room. She was able to answer him with much more composure than she'd thought she would have under the circumstances, and she greeted Sango and Shippou's anxious questions with a lot more calm than she really felt.

She hadn't expected to...well, _ever _feel this way, or to realize it so quickly once it happened, but hey, that was life. And whether she liked it or not, life had put her right here; who was she to waste time moping about the future when she was _here _right now, and when her moping nearly gave Inuyasha a heart attack because he thought it was his fault?

...Well, it kinda...nah, it wasn't. She knew better than to blame him for her own feelings.

And he'd said he wanted her there, more or less. As long as she was welcome to stay, she didn't really have much right to complain, either.

Kagome smirked inwardly as she went down for a very late bath, mind working as her mouth gave an abbreviated explanation of their fight and her flight. However he felt about her, she _had_ earned a few things, though; just once, before she left, whatever the circumstances might be, just once they _wouldn't _get interrupted. And the next time she saw him so close to the river, in he was going!

* * *

Her inner serenity did not touch Inuyasha for the next three days, though. He insisted upon sitting right outside the room near the kitchens in which Kagome conducted the English lessons and growled whenever he felt Kouga was overstepping his bounds, until Kagome threatened to shove garlic wherever she could reach if he didn't quiet down. He did so, grudging but very wary of the stuff now.

"Now, the English words for 'good morning,' 'good day' and 'good night' are all actually the word for 'good' and then the time of day, so 'good morning' is actually..."

By the end of the lesson, Kouga was fairly proficient in each greeting, and Kagome was pleasantly surprised by the speed with which he picked up the accents. "You really sound pretty good. I'd say you'll be speaking better than I can in a year or two."

"Why," and Kouga thanked her in English, Inuyasha's ears twitching nonstop as she laughed and corrected his pronunciation. _Stupid friggin' meathead and his stupid mumbling crap._

Thankfully, Kagome called it off at noon, but that still left the day open, and dinners were still a strain for him, as he couldn't help digging at Kouga and Kagome felt it only right to point out that he was a good student, which was usually good for a miniature fight and parted them on what Inuyasha felt were pretty poor terms. He failed to account for the fact that Kagome put their altercations out of her mind as fast as he did, though, and he entirely failed to notice that she was a tad more patient with him than usual now.

Inuyasha was rarely so glad as he was the morning he strode up to Kagome, took a large whiff, and got a very conspicuous noseful. "_Finally_, wench. I thought you'd never—"

"Time to start," Kouga announced behind him, shoving him easily aside.

It took all of Kagome's patience to soothe the hanyou back down, especially when he tried to get in and was relegated to his now-usual place by both teacher and student. "I'll teach you something before I show it to Kouga, but only if you settle down," she said sternly, ignoring the looks they were trading like sullen boys. "Okay?"

That mollified Inuyasha somewhat, though she nearly tore her hair out when she closed the door on him thumbing his eyelid at Kouga and the wolf demanded to know what _he _was getting before he was.

Kagome shooed Kouga out an hour earlier than usual, and Inuyasha nearly ran into the small room, only to discover that her scent was still hanging around. "Let's go to my room," she said tactfully, already on her way out. "Sango's been airing it out."

They sat down on the floor, Inuyasha leaning over to peer, almost childlike and extremely cute, she thought, at the scroll in her lap. "This is the alphabet used to write in English and a lot of other languages, including the Romance languages, like French and Spanish. There are 26 letters, each one by itself, not just the syllables, and there are a couple of letters we don't use in Japanese. For example, this one, L..."

A mere 30 minutes later, the shoji slid open, and they looked up irritably. Kagome had been enjoying herself almost as much as Inuyasha had relished the time with her, the satisfaction of beating Kouga to something, and the fact that he was really doing quite well, having nearly memorized the whole thing. "Dammit, bouzu, what do you want?"

"There's someone here to see you," Miroku said quietly, biting the inside of his cheeks to keep from bursting out laughing at the hanyou's pout. "You may continue the lesson afterwards, don't worry."

Inuyasha got to his feet, griping the whole way, and Kagome put the scroll down with a sigh. "Who would come here to see you? It'd have to be a demon, right?"

"I only sense a puny one," Inuyasha answered, preceding her out into the entryway and down the steps. Kagome caught Shippou neatly as the kit assaulted her from the top of the rail, and Inuyasha glared at him as though the interruption had been his fault.

At the bottom of the steps was a tiny, well-dressed but wizened little old man with pursed lips, liver spots that looked more like fruit bruises, and a few pathetic wisps of hair – mostly coming out his ears – clinging to his bald, shiny, occasionally lumpy head. "Is that a demon?" Shippou asked loudly, and Kagome shushed him as Inuyasha stopped at the foot of the steps, ears flattening belligerently.

"Greetings." The little man bowed deeply, eyeing Inuyasha with a sniff of distaste. "I bring tidings from my mas—"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped as the hanyou flattened him with one blow, then picked him up by the collar and held him at arm's length, growling all the while.

"Where the hell is he? Why did he send you?" Inuyasha shook the little man till Kagome was sure the tiny frame would crumble like dust. "Talk, dammit!"

"I was about to tell you!" the man protested at the top of his hoarse, tinny voice, and Kagome winced despite herself.

"Who're you?" Shippou asked, little nose wrinkled as Inuyasha dropped the odious newcomer and he picked himself back up, evidently unhurt, mumbling about indignity and hanyou thugs.

"I..." The man – more like an imp, really – drew himself up to his full four feet of height. "I am called Jaken, and I represent the group that owns this land."

"Oh, really?" Inuyasha jerked his head at Kagome. "Her dad owned it, last time I checked."

"Will you guys shut up about that?!"

Too late again. "Higurashi?" Jaken gaped at her. "You...then..." He suddenly grinned, tiny eyes disappearing in malicious wrinkles. "Most excellent. My master will be highly pleased."

Another kick sent the imp sprawling, rolling end over end before flopping into an unconscious heap a safe distance away. "Just like him to pick something like that for a lackey," Inuyasha snapped, and they all made faces as the man's semi-human disguise faded to reveal a tiny, hideous toad demon not unlike his disguise, minus two and a half feet of height, plus green skin and bulbous yellow eyes.

"Who?" Kagome felt another one of those twinges of apprehension. This was not good.

"Who else leaves a stink like that, even on his servants?" Inuyasha hmphed and turned to go inside. "Come on, Kagome. If my brother wants his crap back, he can come get it himself."

* * *

A/N: (circus music) Yes, very busy, but that's life. I based much of this on personal experience, so anyone who feels it isn't realistic is politely invited to speculate that I tried not to dip too deeply into cliché, and anyone still not satisfied one way or another can go stick their head in a blender. (Hostile? Sleep-deprived despite many kind wishes of my reviewers last time? Yeahhh...not that kind wishes and candy aren't much appreciated, 'cause they really really really are, I promise...) And many thanks to Midoriko-sama for lending the muse, but he got drunk and fell down a lot, so I had to improvise. Maybe next time, ne? (Don't worry, I still have the original version of that scene in mind.) Laters, guys.


	22. Fluffy, Part One

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone I'm writing about. Especially not my reviewers. And not my borrowed Irish Imp muse, either, so I don't have to foot the cleaning bills. Mwa ha ha.

A/N: In a funky mood, so let's see how that translates here. But fiiiirst, some reviewer responses...or way too many as it is, rather, so lemme just toss out a general thanks to everyone who gave me something with e-sugar in it, and for all the niceness and well-wishing in the form of ordering me to sleep. (I did sleep a lot this weekend, for the record.) I really like niceness, but I _really _like sleep...anyway, here we go:

**Nabob** – You're welcome. Again. It's good to keep your teeth clean, too. Especially when you munch bags of candy. Mmmmm. Candy. Where're my Hershey's...that I ate last night. Crap...

**hecate2 **– It was a bit rushed, but I went back and triple-checked the days (though lack of sleep probably made that more like 1.5 times in terms of efficiency...), and it's been just over a month now, never ye worry. ;D

**Aliora** – My muse being back in action means I have a lot of drunken antics to distract me...not that this is a bad thing, so thanks. : )

**Rezol** – I quite agree, except she isn't a clay pot this time around, 'member? No Urasue to bring her back to life in an empty body, nor _will _there be...mmm, Pocky...

**Dea Mariella** – The circus music is called "Entrance of the Gladiators"?? Weeeird. Probably some Roman thing, with their death circus jingles and their fancy hair...(mumble mumble randomly)...Thanks for the random trivia. Me likey useless formation.

**minaosu** – XD Chupacabra...brilliance! (sets off to see how to write that in kana, then quickly loses interest, as I have a chapter to write and all)

**RandomTale** – I was speaking more from sleep-drunken hostility than anything else. :'D I blame my own muse for it, though I do admit he's at least never done karaoke in my hearing...

**fardreamer86** – Oooh, enormous e-cake with...(ahem) Actually, the personal experience of which I spake, 'twas actually the feeling of general angst when you're in love and all is not right with the world (I transplanted my own burning-grapefruit-wedged-in-your-chest sensation from "He's a couple hundred miles away" for "He doesn't love me back" and edited a bit so as not to be too humorous when it didn't fit). I did used to eat lots of garlic when I was little, though...

**Midoriko-sama **– Keep him away from the karaoke mike. That's all I have to say.

**darkscorpio28 **– Why does Fluffy want the land? You'll see.

**blue morning tide **– Isn't that a great song? :D Glad you liked it.

**StarrFire** – Thanks for all the reviews. My, that last one was a doozy...and I commend you for knowing more about much of what I'm talking about than I do. _But _please believe me when I say I've thought all this through fairly thoroughly, and it's not that easy; I was angling more at the fact that, as far as the world is concerned, no one in the castle really exists, and none of the residents have any skills to help them survive in this time—staying in the castle is all well and good, but what happens when, say, the kids grow up and want to leave, but have no school records or knowledge of how to get/keep a job? There's also still the wolves to deal with, even if Kag and/or Inuyasha have the money to survive, the land is theirs, and the outside world (i.e. government) leaves them alone. As for her dad being able to get in, well, if you go back a few chapters to 18, even Inuyasha admitted he didn't know how that happened. ;D That's yet to be explained. (Buyo's not affected by any of the barriers, either; there's nothing up to keep ordinary cats out.) My only hint about people having seen the castle even with the wards (good catch) is that Inuyasha doesn't know everything about the wards, or whether some people actually have somehow seen the castle every few years... And if all this crud isn't messy enough, well, remember that Fluffy's in the picture now..._and _keep in mind that probably the biggest roadblock is emotional: she doesn't want to marry him if he doesn't love her, mainly for his sake.

(One last thing: Kag's potty mouth is definitely not in her character from the main storyline, but trust me, a person raised in a stable, loving environment with only one little brother will speak a _lot_ differently than the same person raised with a single not-too-effectual parent and several older siblings who frequently cuss around and _at _her, unless said person is a saint. Kagome is not a saint, especially not when she's got PMS. Plus, her actual yelling is reasonably in character, ne?)

Wow. That was way too long. Sorry...

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 22**

"And he _hit _him, knowing the messenger was from Sesshoumaru?"

"Yep. Knocked him out, too. He only woke up a couple hours ago."

Sango shook her head slowly in utter disbelief, grimacing as the motion almost undid the loose bun Kagome had made of her hair. She sat up higher in the water to keep the half-dried strands off her shoulders. "I can't believe him. He knows his brother despises him to begin with. Why add insult when he's already in a bad position?"

"Since when does Inuyasha think before he hits?" Shippou pointed out, squeaking a small rubber ducky for emphasis.

"Pretty much," Kagome agreed, scrunching down deeper into her side of the tub with a long sigh. "Then he just wanted to go back inside and go right back to what we'd been doing."

"Jaken didn't seem very happy when he woke up, either," Shippou noted.

"Well, I know I wouldn't be happy if I got a bucket of cold dishwater in the face." Kagome scratched her neck irritably. "That was all I could think about during dinner. Inuyasha thought I was getting sick again."

"Unbelievable. He'll be lucky if Sesshoumaru lets him keep all his limbs," Sango said darkly.

Kagome pondered that as they got out, sent Shippou for a servant to change the water, and dressed for bed. She'd given up on last month's custom of bathing in the morning: it wasn't worth the hassle of cutting her lessons with Kouga or Inuyasha short.

"So he's pretty strong?" she asked Sango on the way back to the room, and then stopped with her friend as rapid thudding steps grew louder ahead.

"Watch yourself," the slayer admonished Kohaku as he and Shippou raced around the corner. Kagome plucked the kit neatly off the ground, setting him down facing the other way with a pat on the back; he gave her a sheepish grin and set off at a more sedate pace towards the servants' quarters.

Kohaku ducked his head and bowed apologetically as his sister raised an eyebrow at him. "I told you, no running inside, and not when you have your weapon improperly secured." Sango gestured towards the chain sickle at his back; the tip was jutting out a little too far to the boy's side. "Don't let me catch you at it again, or I'll start you back at the beginning of your training. Understood?"

This was evidently quite the threat, for he gulped, nodding rapidly as his eyes widened and then dropped under Sango's stern gaze. She allowed a half-smile to escape and rapped the top of his head lightly with one fist. "Good. There's nothing wrong with playing, but inside at night is not the time nor the place. Now, go find Shippou and tell him you two can stay up a bit later and spend the night in your room so long as you're quiet. Kagome-sama and I have a few things to discuss."

"All right. Good night, ane-ue, Kagome-sama." Kohaku squeezed against the wall to let them pass first. Kagome tapped the sickle's half-secured handle lightly as she passed, and he obediently tucked it back in before Sango could see.

"Nice one," Kagome said in the safety of their room, snuggling down into her cool pillow. The weather had stayed fairly warm all day, and after the heat of the bath, she was starting to feel it. A purring lump of Buyo on the small of her back wasn't particularly helpful, either. "Does Kohaku always carry that thing?"

"We're taught to keep a weapon ready at all times, yes." She heard Sango pat her kimono's front. "I carry powder and a short sword whenever my Hiraikoutsu is impractical."

"I've always been nervous around blades. I cut myself once when I was little." Kagome yawned, rubbing her fingertips together. They had started to tingle slightly. "I never see you with a sword..."

"Underneath my clothes, but within easy reach," Sango answered, yawning back. "I usually find hand-to-hand techniques sufficient against humans, and many demons require better weapons, but I still keep it ready."

"Normal stuff like swords works on demons?" Buyo began to knead her back with his claws; she tried to wriggle him off, with the same success she would've enjoyed trying to lift a piano with both hands tied behind her back.

"Most normal blades won't harm the greater demons, such as those in Inuyasha's family. That's why we use weapons and armor made from the bones of our prey, like Hiraikoutsu and part of Kohaku's sickle," Sango explained, yawning again.

"So that's why I got a weird vibe from it." Kagome shook her hand at the wrist to try to dispel the itching numbness. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask how they could handle their weapons without any protection, but their earlier conversation came back to her and took precedence. "Oh, yeah, that's right—Inuyasha's brother. He's full demon, right?"

"Yes, and Inuyasha is no match for him. I doubt even Kouga could challenge him except maybe in terms of speed, and even then my money would go to Sesshoumaru. He's not noted for his leniency, either."

"And Inuyasha told Jaken to tell him to go to hell and...a lot of other stuff. Great." Kagome could see why her friend was disturbed now. _Perfect. Another reason to worry about the big lunkhead is exactly what I need._

Sango snorted. "Indeed. Which reminds me, what were you and Kouga discussing this afternoon? I didn't understand much of what I heard."

"Oh, that?" Kagome made a face at the silhouette of the TV box. "All he wanted was to know how to get the laptop to work. Ginta and Hakkaku told him about that, and the TV, and some of the other stuff we have here. You came in as I was explaining how we'd need a power source and how expensive it'd be, which was about when Inuyasha came in and started talking about how you'd just tried to kill Miroku."

"I did _not_!" Sango protested, half sitting up. "As I said before, I didn't even touch him!"

"So? That doesn't mean Shippou didn't see you giving him The Look when he had just stopped to talk to the laundry maids."

"For two and a half hours?!"

Kagome sighed. "It's just habit, and you'll notice he never touches anyone anymore except you. Just give him a chance to get used to the idea that he's attached now."

"...Do you think so?"

"'Course. He's friggin' nuts about you." Kagome still hadn't told her she'd eavesdropped on that fateful conversation a few nights ago, and after the surprise and happiness she'd expressed when Sango shared the good news – even if all but the surprise was genuine – she wasn't sure she ever would.

Sango made a diffident noise, but Kagome knew she was pleased. The servants hadn't tapered off their attacks lately, switching instead to lengthy discussions of how long Sango would amuse herself with the houshi before moving on, possibly to Kouga. This time, though, Kagome had gotten her friend to laugh about it, and the slayer was more at ease overall than she'd been since Kagome first arrived.

Inner devilry and curiosity reminded Kagome now that they were kit-less for the first time since _it _had transpired, and she started to open her mouth...and closed it. _Damn. If she was Yuka or Eri, I could ask away, but Sango's not used to talking about any of this stuff. Nuts!_

"So..." Sango's voice – or, more accurately, her tone – got Kagome's immediate attention. "Did you...well, did anything...happen with Inuyasha?"

_The Irony Fairy's right on time, as usual. Guess I shouldn't complain..._"He got a faceful of garlic breath," Kagome grumbled, channeling her irritation into the strength necessary to turn over and dislodge Buyo, who plopped onto the floor with an offended yowl. "And of course now that I've started, he's not interested anymore."

Unseen on the floor, Sango smirked ever so slightly, unconsciously imitating her houshi. "Am I just imagining some disappointment, Kagome-chan?"

"Well..." Kagome shifted, flapping her nightshirt in vain to cool herself off. "...I was curious, and he was so _close, _too..." She sighed mightily and drummed her hands against the mattress. "I guess it was for the best, though. Now that I think about it, I don't want him to want to slobber all over me just 'cause he likes my smell."

The pause that followed was so loaded that Kagome grunted and hefted her pillow towards the futon. "You say anything and you're eating polyester!"

Sango coughed and held up one forearm just in case; neither could see in the dimness, but the creak of mattress as Kagome leaned forward warningly was clear enough. "No, no, Kagome-chan, I was just...er...admiring your, um...choice of words." Kagome didn't move, and Sango went on levelly, ducking her head for protection: "I didn't mean to imply that you basically said you wanted—"

Wham went the pillow on Sango's arm, and the slayer was soon laughing too hard to argue as Kagome tried to belabor her head and arms, missing spectacularly most of the time; Sango had only to back out of the futon to make her topple off the bed entirely, trying to gasp "Worse...than Miroku!" in between breaths. Honor decreed that Sango had to claim insult and retaliate with the abandoned pillow, which forced Kagome to yank her comforter from under Buyo and attempt to use it as a weapon. Those efforts proved so ridiculous that they were out of breath with laughter and exertion within minutes.

"Peace?" Sango mumbled from under the comforter, flipping one corner up to allow air to circulate underneath.

"Yeah," Kagome wheezed, rolling off the lumps of fabric and legs to allow Sango the chance to cool off. "And _that _was what we like to call...a pillow fight."

"I...see." Sango grinned and wiped her forehead. "We'll need another bath in the morning at this rate."

"If we do, _you _get to pick whether I stiff Inuyasha or Kouga on time and then explain it to them." Kagome sighed and leaned back against the bed, fanning herself vigorously. "Or, I think I might just take tomorrow off."

"I think you should. And you never built that...tree thing for the children, remember?"

"Oh, crap, you're right!" Kagome had completely forgotten about the treehouse. She rubbed her eyes guiltily. "I'll have to do that soon, or they'll think I'm some delusional, promise-breaking witch."

Another silence descended as they made themselves comfortable in the tangle of blanket and futon, silently conceding that sleep was not going to happen for a while. Kagome felt around to her right and, locating a glob of warm fur, began to stroke it absently as Buyo purred. "Hey, Sango-chan. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but... what's... um... love... like?"

Dead silence. Even Buyo fell quiet in disgruntlement as Kagome's hand paused. "I'm sorry. Too personal?"

The reply was slow in coming. "...Very nearly too personal to ask, yes, but you've said talking about it to close friends is acceptable in this time, so I take no offense." Sango sighed and wrapped her arms around her knees. "It is too personal to answer, though. Father said it's not the same for everyone, and treating it as a toy or a game to be shared freely demeans it. I know you didn't mean it that way, but..."

"Nah, you're right. I'm sorry." Kagome also rested her head on her arms. "Just curious. Tell you the truth, I've never even held hands before I came here. I was too picky before we lost everything, and then I didn't get the chance to meet anyone."

"We'll see," Sango said quietly and strangely. Then, before Kagome could ponder her meaning, she felt the slayer sit up. "The only thing I can tell you is, as you yourself said about love, not to expect perfection." She chuckled evilly and dropped her voice. "The first time, anyway."

"_Sango_!" Kagome's face had to be three shades of red. "Okay, I get the point! Geez...he really _has_ rubbed off on you."

Sango's only response was more laughter, and Kagome flushed further. "All _right_! That's enough! Time for bed now!"

Discovering that her shy friend had the capacity to speak in innuendo blotted out her worries about Inuyasha's brother till she fell asleep, and even then the pillow fight seemed to have a restrictive effect on her mind's ability to be serious: she dreamed that Sesshoumaru came to the castle and demanded to speak with Inuyasha, except that he grew angry because his orders weren't obeyed thanks to the clown nose he was wearing (she couldn't recall what he looked like otherwise), so he simply gave everyone rubber ducks to hold, and it somehow ended with everyone dead and Kagome very confused, even as a corpse.

"That's the last time I don't eat a full meal before I go to bed," she mumbled as she mulled over it the next morning, shaking her head at Shippou's inquiring look.

* * *

It was a little less warm and pleasant out today, and several clouds on the horizon effectively killed her plans to gather the children to hunt for a good treehouse site. "Well, maybe we can go see if there's anywhere nearby that might work," Kagome suggested, scanning the dark cloudbanks and wondering irritably why the wolves had decided to buy her plenty of amusing but thoroughly useless trinkets, yet neglected to include any umbrellas.

"I suppose," Sango said doubtfully, indicating Kagome and Shippou should follow her out to the weapons sheds so she could retrieve Hiraikoutsu. "The houshi-sama said he was going to try to reason with Inuyasha about his brother, so we'll have some free time before he recovers enough to follow us."

Inuyasha had been piqued about Kagome's declaration of free time for herself, but he'd made up for it by taunting Kouga about _his _lesson's cancellation, and the resultant fight had been just long enough to bruise most of Inuyasha's ribs on his right side. He would be fully recovered by nightfall, but at the moment, he was _not _pleasant company. Thankfully, Kouga had vanished immediately afterwards.

Kirara joined them at the border to the forest, and for about an hour, their walk was quite pleasant. Shippou and Kirara frisked around their feet as they strolled through the trees, marking two very likely spots out of five initial possibilities; the larger set of branches showed evidence of being rotten or dead in places, but was still sturdier than the alternative.

"We could strengthen either one with more wood," Kagome was saying absently when the skin on the back of her neck went stiff, all the hairs standing straight on end. That mental itch she felt whenever the wolves approached was back, but more like the buzz of a hacksaw than a gentle sensation.

She lurched to her feet, heedless of thunder rumbling overhead or of how dark it'd gotten as the feeling snapped her mind to attention. "Something is..."

"What is it?" Sango stood and hefted her weapon, glancing down at Kirara as the fire-cat ceased batting at Shippou's tiny hands, rolled to her feet and began growling steadily, flaming into her larger form and pacing restlessly around. "Maybe we should go back now, Kagome-chan..."

"Too late," Kagome heard herself say, and almost on cue the bushes to their left rustled warningly. Shippou squeaked and leapt into Kagome's arms; Sango stepped in front of her, and Kirara crouched at their side.

"Good morning." They almost fell over as Jaken stepped out and scurried forward in all his misshapen, undisguised glory, stopping too close for comfort and coughing importantly. "This Jaken is humbled to announce th—"

"Silence." Another roll of thunder accented the command, given in tones of cold silk, elegant and almost emotionless. No noise heralded the speaker's entrance, and they all started as Jaken lingered a moment too long groveling and was swept aside with swift, casual violence.

Ice seeped into Kagome's veins as the newcomer materialized where Jaken had been bowing not half a moment ago, and she got her first solid look at him: tall, slim and well-muscled, beautifully defined features—long and straight nose, perfect cheekbones and slanted eyes all balanced flawlessly, enough so to put any woman to shame, but cold, utterly untouchable, like iced-over glass or unpolished marble; as she stared, the frighteningly expensive business suit, silky shoulder-length black hair and glittering black eyes seeped away into his true appearance, and the first look into his _real _eyes was enough to make her swallow hard, barely summoning the effort to speak. "You...you must be Sesshoumaru."

Kagome didn't need Jaken's indignant sputtering over the proper form of address to his lord as confirmation. Though Sesshoumaru's ears were set alongside his face like a human's, they were sharply pointed, and running across each deceptively soft-looking cheek were two purple stripes, though these were smooth and came to sharp points—no jagged lines to be found anywhere, Kagome figured, including similar stripes running down each forearm and tapering at the wrist. A strange crescent moon of the same purple adorned his forehead, but where such a decoration would make most people look a bit silly, the moon only seemed to make the utterly unmoving features more impressive.

His hair was now a liquid sheet of white, past his waist; a bizarre, furry, boa-like cream-colored object – a tail? – was draped over his shoulder in strange complement to feudal-style armor and richly patterned white clothes that had to be worth more than most feudal villages, even with their lord's castle included; but it was his eyes that gave her the greatest pause, staring down unblinking and icily golden, faintly familiar yet completely unlike the single second a month ago she'd thought she'd seen Inuyasha's turn that very color. Sesshoumaru was so..._cold_-looking...gorgeous, to be sure, but absolutely nothing like the rough self-consciousness she liked...loved...so much in his half-brother.

"You see through the spell." Like her, Sesshoumaru was not asking: there was no need. His gaze shifted just enough to give the impression of piercing scrutiny to the other three without leaving Kagome's. "Demons, a remnant of that pathetic demon-hunting village, and a wench who sees past this Sesshoumaru's guise...and stinks of Inuyasha." They tensed as he let the human semblance fade entirely and shifted his weight forward imperceptibly, allowing them to see a sword's hilt emerge from under one billowing sleeve. "This Sesshoumaru understands that Inuyasha is awake and the castle bound no longer."

_What a snotwad. No one talks like that unless they're drunk and trying to be funny, _the Akemi/Nabiki-trained part of her mind groused, even as the rest tried to think of something safe to say.

Kagome shifted Shippou up to her neck, patting him reassuringly as he trembled, proud of how steady her voice was. "Yes, and no. It's a long story."

"The hanyou is trapped here under a ridiculous plot of revenge, Sesshoumaru-sama," Jaken volunteered from his prone position in the undergrowth. "He cannot leave the castle, and he's bound to the wench from this era. The rest were caught in the geas when he was sealed and are also bound here. No one of any threat to you, of course—"

"How the hell did you find all that out?" Kagome snapped, mentally rescinding every scrap of pity she'd felt for the little bastard yesterday.

"That'd be me." They all backed up further as Kouga came up behind Sesshoumaru, rubbing his head sheepishly, human image flipping in and out as he moved.

"Kouga?!" Kagome gaped at him, shaking her head in disbelief as Ginta and Hakkaku also came up, gulping and darting nervous glances at Sesshoumaru. "What're _you _doing telling him this stuff? Whose side are you on?!"

"Not Inuyasha's," the wolf replied easily, grimacing at her enraged look and scent. "Look, it's okay. He's offered us a deal." Kouga inclined his head towards Sesshoumaru, who did not deign to acknowledge the breach of manners and gestured for Jaken's indignation to cease once more. Kagome had a feeling that even bothering to act superior was beneath Sesshoumaru. "You know how Jaken's your dad's other partner, along with Ginta and Hakkaku's dads, right?"

Sesshoumaru's gaze on her sharpened, and Kagome could only nod, almost defiantly, choosing to keep her eyes on Kouga. Staring contests were all well and good, but _not_ with horribly powerful, unfriendly and amoral demons.

"Well, the thing is, the land only came up for sale, for the first time in centuries, I might add, because the half-demon who had somehow gotten his hands on it died a few years ago, and Sesshoumaru told Jaken to get it fast. Then he had Ginta 'n Hakkaku get to work making sure the land got to be worth a lot right as he bought it so no one would wonder why he'd bothered." Kouga shrugged. "Too much trouble, if you ask me, but he's pretty careful about appearances.

"Anyway, Jaken here—" He waved at the imp in the bushes. "He screwed up. He was gonna have your dad take over an area with a small, unpolluted natural aquifer under it that's been hidden and maintained by water demons for centuries, and all the attention that that got would overshadow Jaken buying the castle, just in case anyone got suspicious enough to look into it—don't ask why all the secrecy, 'cause he's not telling.

"So Sesshoumaru's habit of not telling anyone anything bites him in the hand this time, 'cause Jaken doesn't know why he needs to buy the tiny, crappy plot outside Tokyo when there's a much richer piece of land just waiting to be snapped up...and he figures the guy who relayed Sesshoumaru's instructions got mixed up, buys the aquifer quietly, and gets your dad to go for the castle. Sesshoumaru finds out, heads literally roll—" Looking at the demon's short, sharp and well-kept claws, Kagome had no doubt about that. "—and Ginta and Hakkaku get to work making sure no one will ever want to buy Higurashi out. Trouble is, they disappear as soon as it's safe to approach them, and no one's found them till now."

There was that mention of disappearing again. But Kagome had _way _more to ponder than vague geographical mysteries. "Y-you mean we went through three years of dirt poverty when we could've stayed put and...?!"

Silence was all the answer she needed.

"Son of a—!" She bit her lips and willed herself not to explode. How many more people were going to step out of the shadows and blithely tell her that the worst time of her life had been accidental and completely avoidable? "All right," she said tightly, trying not to smother Shippou against her chest. "What now?"

"What the fuck is going on here?" The only person who would word a request for information thus limped into sight behind them and snarled, baring his teeth at his older half-brother, heedless of Miroku coming up behind him too late. "You...!"

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed to slits, and for one moment of sheer hell Kagome thought he was going to spring at Inuyasha. But he relaxed after a few agonizing seconds, contempt replacing caution. "Curse, indeed. You imitate your betters as pathetically as ever."

"What?!"

"Hold on, Inuyasha," Kagome hissed, holding one hand out to restrain him, and he gaped at her. "I'm not saying you should give him a hug, just _listen _for a minute. This is important." She turned back to Kouga as the hanyou was still trying to process what she'd said. "Continue, please."

Kouga eyed Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha uneasily, shrugging. "Okay...well, Sesshoumaru's made a d—"

"Are you certain the curse will affect the castle if he were to simply die now?" Sesshoumaru did not have to raise his voice to cut in.

The wolf lord blinked, taken aback. "Well, no, but it's just a couple more months, and it's easier that way..."

"Tell this Sesshoumaru something, half-breed. Where is your mother?" Kagome's stomach churned at the scalding disdain placed in the last word, the same way one would ask an acquaintance if a vermin or insect problem had been taken care of yet or not.

Inuyasha's eyes went very wide, and the red seemed to harden, solidify, as a deep growl worked its way up through his chest, lost in the thunder's roar. "What...did you—"

Miroku wisely backed off, edging his way towards Sango instead, and Kagome nearly traded places with him, patting Inuyasha tentatively, as if that could diffuse the situation.

"This Sesshoumaru wishes to know whether the creature our noble father left in his stead still exists. If she does not, there is no reason to tolerate the memory of her filthy presence in this Sesshoumaru's castle."

Only the bruises on Inuyasha's ribcage saved his life as reason, logic and the feel of Kagome's restraining hand on his arm were swallowed in **_rage _**and he made a single mad lunge for his brother's throat. His mind was far beyond the reach of mere physical pain, but the involuntary muscle spasms in his right side did not escape Sesshoumaru's notice even as the full demon watched the hanyou carelessly, gliding to the side and almost delicately planting his fist directly into Inuyasha's ribs, mashing him into the ground with such casually ruthless power that even Kouga winced a little.

"You are damaged." Raw derision left them fully aware that Sesshoumaru was not just thinking of his half-brother's now-broken bones. "This Sesshoumaru will not sully his hands on one such as—"

"Oh, shut _up_ and leave him alone!" Everyone watching nearly suffered heart failure as Kagome stormed over to where Inuyasha lay, literally underfoot. Sesshoumaru melted back, appraising Kagome dispassionately as she fell on her knees at Inuyasha's side, whirling to give his brother a glare only slightly impeded by tears. "If you're so much better than he is, why can't you piss off and _condescend _to let him live two more freakin' months?! Or would you rather spit on your dad's grave by killing your own brother when he's already hurt?"

Sesshoumaru's tone did not change; only Kagome could see by the slight narrowing of his golden eyes that she had managed to hit a nerve. "This Sesshoumaru may yet kill both of you for your disrespect and seek out your father to acquire the property with no further nonsense."

Miroku started forward, easing the beads free from his hand, but Sango caught him and shook her head; Kagome realized later that he couldn't have used his hand to eliminate Sesshoumaru when she and Inuyasha were also in the way.

"You don't have to _sully _your nail polish doing so," she said with as much coolness as she could muster under the circumstances, stroking Inuyasha's hair briefly before rising to negate at least some of Sesshoumaru's height advantage. "You've waited...what, over five hundred years for this? What's two more months? Probably a heartbeat, for you. Even less."

"Less so if you were to die _now_."

"Yes, but...but..." Her mind screamed at itself for a solution, something that would appeal to this horrible person, anything... "But you don't want to have to keep all the human servants his mother has at the castle, do you? Especially not when they're culturally illiterate and loyal to Inuyasha." _Please, God, tell me he can't smell lies..._ "If you just leave things be for two measly little months, the curse will end with...with Inuyasha getting rid of them for you, then...then himself." Only desperation kept her speaking around the lump in her throat. "It'll all be taken care of for you, even cleaned up as the last part of the curse, and there's no way Dad would listen to me even if I told him _not _to get rid of the land after that. You see that, don't you? It all works out if you just wait!"

Sesshoumaru watched her, eyes about as expressive as the metal whose color they shared, and Kagome was just beginning to despair when the demon turned his back on her and glanced at Kouga, who couldn't conceal his jump. "You will tell the wench the terms of the agreement, and caution her that she will not treat this Sesshoumaru thus again with impunity." Suddenly light blanked out his form, and he was just as suddenly gone, with Jaken scrambling up out of the bushes, screeching vainly after his master.

Kagome was able to keep her knees locked for maybe five seconds after the sounds of Jaken's frantic pursuit faded. Then a crack of thunder overhead released her control: her legs crumpled beneath her, and she pressed her forehead to the ground for a moment, panting, feeling the beat of footsteps as Sango rushed forward to grab her by the shoulders, shaking her roughly and asking if she was all right.

That only reminded her of Inuyasha. Kagome tried to get up and turn around, but her knees wouldn't move, forcing her to almost drag herself the few feet to him so she could pat his cheek. "Hey," she whispered, too shaken to notice whether the contact changed his face again or not. "Hey. Can you hear me?"

Inuyasha cracked an eye at her, mumbling in between stiff and evidently painful breaths. "Stupid. Moron. Idiot."

She half-laughed, half sobbed. "That's a yes. Can you move?"

"Don't be..." Inuyasha strained to sit up and gritted his teeth, pricking the skin of his jaw. "Just gimme a minute."

"Want me to carry dog-turd back inside?" Kagome heard behind her, and turned long enough to smile and shake her head to thank him for the grudging offer, knowing Inuyasha would rather drag himself back in with his teeth if need be. Besides, now that the immediate danger was over, a few hours would permit him limited mobility. He'd literally be as good as new by this time tomorrow.

"Sorry about this," Kouga said awkwardly, gesturing for Ginta and Hakkaku to leave. "I'll come by tomorrow when he's up to breathing again." He snorted at Inuyasha's mumbled attempt at a comeback, nodded to Kagome and stalked off.

"That certainly could've gone better," Miroku said dryly, kneeling to prod Inuyasha's shoulder. Shippou came out from under Kirara – where he'd ducked the moment Kagome moved to confront Sesshoumaru – and snuggled down into Kagome's lap as Inuyasha assumed a familiar, mulish expression and the monk sighed. "I don't care if your pride is wounded or not, Inuyasha. The pieces of your ribs take priority at the moment. Besides, Kagome-sama is right here. There's no reason for you _not _to—" Two whacks silenced him, and Inuyasha submitted to inspection of his injuries with an even grumpier scowl.

No surprise that it was drizzling sullenly by the time they got Inuyasha comfortably settled on Kirara for the short ride back to the castle, and he was so weary just from his insistence on crossing the great hall unaided that Kagome yanked him away from the stairs by one lock as he began to lift his foot. "Where're you going?"

"Lie down," he snapped as effectively as he could. "Why?"

Kagome pressed her lips together. "Can you take yourself to my room? It's closer."

He was gone, and she gathered all her reserves of patience to wait till she'd marched into the room and found him collapsed on the bed to smack her forehead with her hand. "I meant _walk_ into my room! Not use up all your energy just so you can save twenty seconds!"

"...The hell?" Inuyasha indicated an oddly shaped set of lumps atop the TV box. "Smells...wolves...and kinda...burnt."

"Shut up. You're the one who's not allowed to talk now." Kagome rubbed her hands almost gleefully, glad she'd sent the others to Kaede for medicine. Only Shippou had questioned the need to have three of them plus Kirara go and Kagome stay with Inuyasha, and he'd figured it out quickly enough.

"You look...sadistic." Inuyasha tried to scoot away and grunted in pain.

"Better a sadist than a masochist, I always say." Kagome knelt next to the bed and began running her fingertips over his scalp lightly. "Speaking of which, you're gonna have to take this off again. It does look pretty bad, but—"

"You were doing it again." That was all on one breath, and Kagome looked at him curiously. His brows were drawn together slightly. "Fluffy almost...killed you. Surprised he didn't, you and...me."

"I'm sorry for what I said." Kagome made a face and rubbed at the bases of his ears by way of apology. By the way his feet were twitching, she judged it'd been accepted. "I don't like thinking about it any more than you do."

"Don't be. S'true."

"Not necessarily. Things change." Realizing how that sounded, Kagome coughed and hurried on. "I mean, we might figure out a way around everything, break the curse some other way or something. You never know. No reason to worry about things we can't control right now, is there?"

"You're nuts." Inuyasha shifted slightly. He couldn't believe how calmly she was taking everything, especially after the way she'd insulted the most anal demon in existence to his face. Sure, _he _had been doing it since he was a kid, but Fluffy had been "damaging" him since he was a kid, too... "Just don't put...yourself in...danger like that... again. Scared...the crap out of me."

"Really?" Kagome stopped and glanced up. He was giving her what she recognized as a concerned glare, something only Inuyasha could really pull off. "I figured you were too busy trying to breathe to fend for yourself. Remember, we're hazardous to each other's health."

"Keh. Don't...underestimate m—" He broke off on a yelp as Kagome sat down next to him, bouncing the bed slightly. "Bitch! Careful!"

"Yeah, I'll be careful to hit you with a sledgehammer the next time he comes around and save everyone the trouble," she shot back, tugging at his haori collar. "Come on, get this back off. I don't know why you wanted it on in the first place. Don't you growl at me, young man!"

"Weirdo," he muttered, allowing her to carefully fold his garments back to expose his right side. The swelling was already a bit less pronounced, and she checked it against his relatively untouched left side: yep, it already looked better. "Don't want...servants gawking."

"Gawking? At what? You're nothing but muscle." Kagome poked him in his uninjured ribs, slightly alarmed at his jerk in response. "Inuyasha? You're not hurt there, too, are you?"

"No," he said quickly. Too quickly.

"Oh. Okay. I just thought—" Kagome feinted another check and poked him again, cackling madly when he twitched again. "You're ticklish! Ha ha ha haaaaa!"

"Don'tyou_dare_bitch," he wheezed, leaning away and trying to fend off her hands, manage his breathing and suppress laughter at the same time.

"Okay, okay, but as soon as you get better..." Kagome flicked his forehead very lightly. "Now lay back down. I promise I'll be good."

"Doubt that."

There wasn't much to do at that point but wait for the others. Kagome settled back onto the floor, surreptitiously sniffing her hands. _Who'da thunk a guy who's technically half dog could smell so good? ...Man, I'm getting as bad as he is...but that doesn't change the fact that—_

"Hey."

"What?" she replied, sitting up higher and resuming her scalp rub. His eyes half closed appreciatively.

"Funny...was going to ask...is everyone now...always touching?"

"Touching?" Kagome considered that as she switched hands. "Well, compared to your time, it's a little more acceptable for friends to do things like this when we're relaxing. I'm worse about it than most people, though. Blame Western influence for pretty much everything weird about me." She smiled. "And if you think I'm weird, you should meet my brother's American friend some time. She said that across the ocean, people think nothing of cuddling or kissing in public."

"Really?" Inuyasha's nose wrinkled. "Who the hell...would mate where everyone...watches?"

Kagome laughed and shrugged, secretly relieved that the mention of kissing hadn't embarrassed him. "I think she was exaggerating, but they do tend to be, well, more open about that kind of thing. The culture is much more different about...pretty much everything, now that I think of it." _Except for the fact that dog demons kiss, too. Probably not as casually as... _She shoved that thought back into its corner, where she had resolved to keep it. It would get her nowhere helpful. "I'm surprised I haven't alienated the whole castle by now, come to think of it."

His only response was a stiff mumble and a turn of his head so she could reach his right ear.

* * *

A/N: Yes, that's the end of this chapter. I am about to drop. I need to stop pulling all-nighters, especially now that I've got a job working overnight at Target and I start next week-ish. I'll post what I intended to be the rest of this chapter (part 2, I suppose I'll make it) either tomorrow or the next day at a sane hour for once. Till then, I catch a few hours of nap. After I upload. Yeah. Sorry again. (You know you're an obsessive author when: you apologize for writing only 16 pages in Word...) 


	23. Fluffy, Part Two

Disclaimer: Je n'ai pas Inuyasha ou les choses...nuts, can't remember enough French to finish off "I don't own Inuyasha or the things..." I guess I'll just finish in English. "...mentioned herein." ...Yeah. If it's trademarked, i.e. you guys recognize it or have the feeling you've heard of it, then I don't own it. That's all. You can go home now.

A/N: Three quick notes before we start: one, 's been a bit screwy with sending out notices and stuff this week (I thought no one had reviewed the last chapter at all for maybe two minutes, till I thought to check the actual page instead of e-mail...X'D), so be sure you've read 22 first. Two, re: inquiries about Sesshoumaru's way of speaking, yes, Rin also talks in third person in Japanese, but you mainly hear little girls do that to be cute; Fluffy does so as a way of elevating himself. He literally says "Kono (This) Sesshoumaru" all the time, and it's such a strikingly snobby speech pattern that I retained it here. And three—I want everyone to know that I've been maneuvering since before I started writing this story to get the scenario you'll see momentarily to come to pass somewhat feasibly, so I claim the right to blatantly change several small details according to my tastes and purposes here; in other words, corrections will be ignored, 'cause I already know. Mwa ha ha ha ha.

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 23**

"Hey...wench."

It was only a few minutes after her hands had gotten tired and Kagome got up to inspect the bundle on the TV box, which turned out to be three battery units of varying size, the two smaller set atop the largest. She noticed a piece of modern computer paper folded between them and picked it up. "Huh...weird. Yeah, what is it?"

"How'd you know...what'll happen once the curse is up? Who told you?" The edge in his voice brought her attention away from the sloppy writing she'd just unfolded. "Was it the wolf? If it was...I'm gonna chew his...head off and shove it—"

"It doesn't matter, Inuyasha," she said pointedly, reading the rest of the note and grimacing. "Oh, damn..."

"It does to me...what's wrong now?" He tried to sit up and failed splendidly.

Kagome sighed and finished reading, just to be sure. "Story time...Right before my dad found out his partners screwed him over the day he got lost here, Jaken gave him his credit card to get the souvenirs – that's a kind of key to your money – 'cause he was drunk and forgot Dad wouldn't be able to pay him back. So then Dad bought all this expensive stuff with Jaken's money, got stood up at his meeting, got plastered, and not only did he not give the card back, but he dumped the receipts on Jaken's doorstep right before he left. Now they say he's willing to let it slide and pay for the batteries just as long as 'things go according to plan.'" She would've liked to know what that meant beyond the curse expiring, but that would have to wait for the next time she talked to Kouga. _Crap on a cracker. That's one _more _thing to worry about...does Dad even realize he owes Jaken for all this stuff! Now that I think about it, he doesn't even know squat about his own partners..._

Inuyasha grunted, then grunted again at the pain the action caused, then caught himself and gave up entirely. "Idiot."

"Shut up. It's not his fault. He was upset." Kagome slapped the paper down on the box and moved the batteries carefully to the floor, deliberately keeping them out of Inuyasha's curious sight. "You can look at them later. Where are Sango and the others? Did they get lost, or what?"

"You don't have to...bite my head off, wench," Inuyasha muttered, letting his head drop back.

Defensiveness overruled her slight guilt at snapping at him. "You're the one getting cranky for no reason, not me."

"Am not!"

"Are too! I have a reason to be mad, at least. _You're_ just pissed that you don't have an excuse to go ballistic."

"I am _not _pissed!" Thunder boomed, and the sound of rain pounding the roof soon reached even Kagome's ears. She gave him a deadpan look, and he folded his arms stubbornly, forgetting his ribs till his left hand brushed them and he unfolded with a hissed curse.

"Just in time," Sango commented, moving into the room ahead of Miroku and eyeing Inuyasha curiously. "I suppose asking how you feel would be unnecessary."

"We apologize for taking so long, but Kaede required our help in moving several of her drying herbs and medicines inside." Miroku withdrew two pouches from his robes.

Kagome took a small dipper of water from Shippou, both pouches from Miroku, and a length of bandage from Sango. "Thanks, guys. How's she doing?"

The conversation turned to polite chitchat as they made Inuyasha sit up so Kagome could begin wrapping the herb-soaked cloth around his ribs. It wasn't much different from all the scrapes and cuts Souta had asked her to tie up for several years now – except of course for the smell, and the view – but she still allowed herself a bit of self-satisfaction as she tucked the ends into the bottom layer and pressed his shoulder. "All done. Now, don't move for a few more hours."

"Hours!" He settled down and glared at her as thought the injury had been her fault. "What the hell...am I supposed...to do till then?"

"What are these devices, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked from the floor, examining the batteries with utmost care. "Are they safe to touch?"

"As long as your hands are dry, sure." Kagome picked up the top one and held it up so everyone could see, including Inuyasha, whose irritation was slightly mollified by the gesture. "This is for the laptop. We can type on it for several more hours now."

"Laptop?" Inuyasha repeated blankly.

"I'll show you tomorrow, Inuyasha. It'll help with the alphabet, too." Kagome handed the battery to him. He promptly sniffed, recoiled, and nearly threw it onto the floor. She snatched it back just in time. "Be careful with these! They're really easy to break, and you can't get them wet or dirty, or I'll be forced to kill you—and that goes for everyone."

"What are the others for, Kagome-chan?" Sango picked up the largest and turned it this way and that. "For the other...things?"

"Electronics, yeah. One powers the PlayStation – the device for the video games I told you about – and one goes to the TV, which is what shows you the video games or whatever else you're doing. It has a lot of uses, but we only have one video game here..." An idea poked at her. "Hmmmm..."

"Could we see?" Shippou hopped onto her lap and grasped her T-shirt sleeve urgently. "Pleeeeeease?"

"Well, I think they mainly got it so I could introduce this stuff to Kouga..." Kagome sighed at Inuyasha's growling and Shippou's increased hopping. "But I guess it couldn't hurt to try it out. Miroku-sama, Sango-chan, help me get the TV out of its box, would you?"

Inuyasha's sullen demeanor did not improve as he had stay inert and watch the other three remove everything from atop the box and shove it under the bed, tear the box open at the sides and then carefully slide the TV forward at Kagome's direction. "There we go," she said triumphantly, folding the sturdy cardboard into thirds and wriggling it under the bed as well, motioning for them to slide the TV back into its space. "See, most guys would just try to lift it right out of the box."

"Fascinating," Miroku whispered, eyes widening at his reflection in the TV's dark screen. "What material is it made of?"

"Glass, plastic and a lot of wires and other stuff. I don't know much about how it works." Kagome located and extracted the PlayStation box, into which Yoshio had already tried to stuff the large, folded rubber-bottom dance mat and game. "Aw, nuts. He didn't get a memory card."

"Memory card?" Sango forced her interest away from the screen to blink at the box Kagome was unpacking, shaking her head in wonder at the strange objects her friend handled with evident ease. Shippou was too busy making faces at himself and Miroku was too busy preening to notice. "What...is...are those?"

Kagome sighed and set the box down with a little thud to get their attention. "It keeps a record of what you do on the game. Now, first off, this game is pretty old. It hasn't been popular for a long time, and I used to be kinda good at it, but now I probably suck." She opened the game case and extracted the disc, reflexively flipping it to check the underside for scratches or smudges. _Looks clean. That's one point for Dad...out of about negative five million. _"It's like a CD, Sango-chan, but instead of music, this contains the information the PlayStation needs to put the game onto the TV for us to control. The actual control is with this..." Kagome unfolded the dance pad, and Inuyasha craned his neck to look with the others at the crinkling, odd-patterned, unpleasant-smelling plastic surface as she spread it out with the 'down' arrow pointing at the bed. Shippou poked it tentatively and jumped back at the way it wrinkled and shifted audibly under his finger.

Once she gave them a brief explanation and was sure they had a tolerable grasp of the concept of these odd bars, shapes and directional arrows being linked to the purpose of the game, Kagome picked up the second battery and began hooking it up to the PlayStation. "I'm kinda surprised these even exist—the batteries for the TV and game, that is. Usually people's houses have the power – electricity – these things need built right into them." She then moved the largest battery closer to the TV and bent over to half-lift it and reach the cord. A slap and a snarl behind and next to her confirmed her idle suspicion of Miroku enjoying the view, and when she sat back on her heels, Miroku was nursing a lump on his head, while Inuyasha was flexing his claws meaningfully and Shippou just folded his tiny arms in a weary shrug.

_Sigh._ She kept her mouth shut and deftly connected the PlayStation to the TV's front three jacks."Okay..." Kagome plugged the mat's cord into the first controller space and picked up the Extreme disc again. "This might not work at all...electronic stuff is notorious for not always doing what you want it to, and the game is pretty old. It'll be loud, too, so don't get too surprised. Nothing will happen that can hurt you." She leaned back to give Inuyasha a meaningful look. "So don't even think it's some kind of monster and then try to 'kill' it for me, okay? Or I'll beat you to death with the box, and believe me, it'll take a while."

"How'm I supposed to do anything if I can't even see the front?" he snapped, and Kagome had to concede the point; the bed was against the wall and arranged next to the TV so that all he could watch was the side, which rose well over the foot of the bed. "I'm not that stupid, wench. Just show everyone your weird crap already."

"You don't have to get jealous. You can see it as soon as you're up and about." Kagome tugged his hair gently and smiled half-apologetically. "I'm warning you, it'll be loud, and the sounds won't be like anything you've ever heard before..."

"Yeah, yeah, wench."

Kagome shrugged. "Right. I'm just turning the TV on...now." She pressed the Power button, and Inuyasha instantly clapped his hands over his ears at a loud, dull buzz that only drew the others' mild interest.

"I warned you." Kagome hastened to turn the volume all the way down, then inched it up slightly. "Even when there's nothing on it, the TV itself does make a little noise."

"What are those?" Sango, Miroku and Shippou crowded closer to read a menu that had popped up.

"Start-up stuff. You can change your TV to do certain things, like...certain things we don't have." It would take hours just to explain different cable options, picture options, channel options, TV stations, TV programs... "Here, lemme get rid of it." To their disappointment, she punched the Power button again, then hit it after a slight pause, and the screen came back up brightly gray-black and blank.

"Now, for the game, we turn on the PlayStation, put in the game disc, and wait for it to recognize it, then call up the game—we call that 'loading.'" Kagome motioned them to step back, wishing there was enough room between the TV and bed to turn the former more towards her audience, and smoothed the mat out a safe distance from the screen. _Probably best Inuyasha doesn't see it yet anyway, or else he'll flip out. _That was a possibility for the others, too, but then, the others did not have claws capable of tearing trees into pieces.

She felt along the back of the PS2 for the switch, flipped it and tapped the bottom of the two front buttons, grinning at the gasps behind her when the tray creaked out. Shippou clutched her leg as the screen flickered briefly, then displayed the system start-up screen with the accompanying sound effects, fading into the usual two-optioned black menu, points of light swirling in the background. _Figures he got this one used, too. Oh, well. Saves us setup time._

"Is this the game?" Shippou asked doubtfully.

"Nope. This what is the PlayStation does when it's waiting for orders, basically. I can put a music CD in here and it'll play it, or I put the game in, or I can change several options the way I can with the TV." She placed the disc in the tray and hesitated, finger on the button. "Any questions thus far?"

"How..." Miroku seemed to have been rendered speechless, and Sango wasn't much better. "You say...these things are purely for entertainment! What kind of power do you use to do _useful_ work?"

"You'd be surprised." Kagome caught Shippou's pleading look and grinned at the kit. "Want to try pressing it?"

Nearly squealing with excitement, the kitsune leaped onto her lap and proudly stabbed at the button, jumping and yipping with delight when the tray obediently slid closed. "Look! I did it, Kagome!"

Inuyasha yawned loudly from the bed, and Kagome decided to ignore him. "Good job, Shippou-chan...and now it's loading. See?" Sure enough, the screen faded, and Kagome had to pinch herself at their jumps when the PlayStation 2 logo flicked on and off. "It's strange, I know, but it won't hurt you, no matter how weird it sounds."

Monk and slayer both visibly forced themselves to relax each time a new screen popped up, especially the short, loud, vibrant introductory movie, till Kagome stepped onto the pad and thudded the X panel with her foot. "That's just to show off the game. Here are all our actual options...see, I move between them with the arrows and pick the one I want to do with this button." She moved it up and down, letting Shippou come forward and hop repeatedly on the up arrow, almost beside himself with glee at the way the image obeyed him. "See, it's just for fun. Now, to actually play..." A tap of X, and the screen dissolved.

Inuyasha grew increasingly frustrated watching the light flicker and fade and strengthen in degrees across their stunned, delighted faces. All he could hear were blips of annoying sound and snippets of loud, even more annoying sounds strung together in a rapidly changing jumble. It sounded faintly like the 'music' he'd heard Kagome explaining to Sango not long ago, but instead of a discreet set of little soft objects, this was blasting out of the back of the huge box. "What the hell's going on?"

"I'm trying to pick a song, Inuyasha," she said patiently, letting the other three get used to the sight of her cycling through the different choices. "As long as I'm looking at one's title, it plays a piece of that song on loop. See, guys, the object is to match arrow shapes in time to the music. The more arrows, the more difficulty. I'll keep it on the easiest level for now..." She had selected Training Mode, which meant there would be no backgrounds to distract them, but Kagome steeled herself anyway as she settled on one of her older favorites. "Here, this one is in English, so don't pay attention to the words. Just watch the arrows and see if you get what I'm doing with my feet..." Another tap of X, and she was off.

Inuyasha's ears half-flattened as more 'music' began, not as harsh as some of the ones she'd passed over, but still definitely odd. _Weird. Don't see how you can get much weirder...than...what the...!_

"What're you _doing_?" he heard Shippou ask incredulously as Kagome stepped forward, back, and forward again, as if she'd suffered a blow to the head and was trying to kill imaginary insects.

"This is how you play," she answered, face alight with embarrassment, pride, and the game's unnatural illumination. "See how the arrows move up? I hit _this _one, the down arrow, when that one hits the matching outline at the top."

No one else spoke as the song's odd words picked up into a rapid stream, then ended with the music on a strong beat, at which Kagome made a small jump and ended with her feet splayed on the left and right arrows. "Ha! I made it! Man, I haven't played in years, either..." She grinned at the three gaping at the screen. "Got it?" On impulse, Kagome turned back towards the TV and hit X to get back to the song selection, mashed the down arrow rapidly till several odd symbols in a row under the title shifted twice, and hit X again. "I set it on the hardest difficulty. Don't laugh if I don't get it, 'cause this'll be a lot different."

Different it was—instead of moving in smooth, continuous steps, Kagome was forced to literally hop around, sometimes leaving one or both feet on a single arrow and flailing away with the other, or leaping to hit direction combinations, only to return to increasingly demanding single-step patterns. _Damn, I'm doing pretty good, _she thought proudly, puffing a little and laughing as she nearly fell over on a difficult sequence of eighth notes.

"I did it!" She clapped her hands and doubled over, staggering against the wall and wheezing for breath the moment the song ended. "I can't believe my feet remembered how to do that one!" Thankfully, the tatami and rubber seemed fairly compatible; the pad hardly moved under her feet, the way it usually did on carpet or polished floor.

Sango rubbed her eyes. "Incredible. I have no clue how you can do that so quickly."

"You seem very skilled, Kagome-sama," Miroku remarked, eyeing the pad and her feet. "But...ah...does one always have to move that way in order to succeed?"

"Yeah, it does look kinda weird at first, but when it was popular, guys used to get really good so they could show off to girls, believe it or not." Miroku wisely refrained from comment, and Sango nodded shortly.

Kagome poked Shippou gently in the side, and he squeaked, hopping back from where he'd been sniffing at the mat. "You want to try now, Shippou-chan?"

A soft noise from the bed forestalled the kit's answer, and Kagome moved to where she could get a better look at Inuyasha. "Hey, Inuyasha, you okay?" The hanyou had flung his forearm across his eyes, hiding most of his face. "Inu..." His shoulders began to shake. "...yasha?"

The warning in her tone only made him shake harder, and he began to wheeze silently. She crossed her arms and began to tap her fingers irritably. "Are you laughing at me?"

"Maybe..." Inuyasha angled his arm to expose one eye, and her cross expression seemed to amuse him vastly. "No...just thought your...little...thing...was...interesting...yeah—"

"I hope you break your other ribs," she grumbled as he clutched at his sides, trying desperately to rein in his merriment enough to spare his injuries the abuse of laughing. "For your information, if you had been able to see the screen, you would know I was actually doing pretty well."

"Yeah...I'd say...you killed...at least four...five hundred ants...that last time—"

"What the...?" Kagome couldn't get anything else out of him after that. She scratched her head and looked at the others for explanation, but all three merely shrugged. "Now who's the weirdo?"

Judging by the slight case of hiccups Inuyasha had just developed, it didn't really matter. Kagome sighed mightily and grabbed the half-full dipper from the floor. "Here, moron. Now I know how you feel when I say something that doesn't make any sense." _And I know what a potent weapon it is. Man, I owe him for this one..._

She did have to admit that she probably looked pretty stupid from his perspective, though. And it had gotten his mind off the altercations with Kouga and Sesshoumaru...his pride was probably at its lowest ebb at the moment, and if he could get a little back at her expense, it was no skin off her nose.

Or feet, in this case, as she rubbed her left heel and recalled the callus she'd developed there back when she first started playing the game barefoot. She'd been strongly discouraged from continuing to play in arcades, as many older males had either taken too keen an interest in her or merely wanted the machines more – besides, girls weren't supposed to get sweaty like that – but Eri's older brother had one of the home versions, and they frequently played on the expensive metal set when Eri's parents were out of the house on business.

Two songs (and about 30 quick glances to make sure Inuyasha wasn't watching) later, Kagome sighed and sank to the floor, fanning herself. "That's about all for now. I'm really out of shape. Do either of you guys want to try?"

Sango and Miroku exchanged glances. "Maybe later, Kagome-chan," Sango answered tactfully.

"Yeah, you're right. We need to save the batteries anyway." Much to Shippou's disappointment, she flipped the switch and pushed the Power button. "I'll be right back. I need to get some water. Sango-chan, could you and Miroku move the TV so everyone can watch it at once?"

Inuyasha raised his arm and gave her a quick, unreadable look, then set it back down as she left the room. _Definitely weird. Wonder if she realizes there's a lot more to watch than her feet when she plays that game thing...?_

* * *

Kagome couldn't help humming as she took a detour away from the kitchens and outside, where the rain had already tapered off and the air was already beginning to warm a bit. She was too happy to be bothered by the after-rain smell at the moment, though, and she almost unconsciously broke out into the first song's rapid, catchy refrain as she leaned against the rail. 

"Only courtesans sing, girl."

"Hello, Kikyou, and that's _not _what she said." Kagome enjoyed a moment of childish satisfaction as the priestess frowned, uncertain of her meaning: after all, the song's words were English. "Never mind. What do you want?"

Unused to being confused, Kikyou held onto her displeasure a moment longer before assuming her usual calm, 'leaning' gracefully against the rail a few feet away. A servant hurried by, bowing and murmuring a swift greeting to Kagome, failing entirely to see the priestess. _Creepy. She looks solid to me..._

"I merely wished to know if you'd noticed anything strange on the grounds lately," Kikyou said evenly, ignoring the momentary interruption. "That must have been Inuyasha's older half-brother I saw earlier...do you wish for death, or did you somehow know he would be generous enough to allow you to live after your behavior?"

"I was too mad to think about it." Kagome folded her arms and stared out at the forest. "And no, I haven't really noticed anything weirder than usual. Why, did you?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps it was only my imagination, or perhaps my curiosity is affecting my judgment." Kikyou also turned to look at the trees. "Either way, I advise you to be on your guard. It would be most inconvenient if you were to die and the curse to resolve itself this early."

"Then why don't you...damn." She was already gone. Kagome stuck her tongue out at the forest in general and headed back inside. _I hate it when she does that...would it kill her to be clear for once? ...Oh, wait, she's already dead. ...All the more reason for her to come out and _say _something once in a while!_

Inuyasha had recovered sufficiently by that evening to make it out of Kagome's room and up to his with only minimal assistance; by the time dinner was over and he'd asked her the usual question, his ego was in even better shape, smug about his speed of healing and still laughing at her dancing _skills_, as he called them, and none of her protests or insults could budge him. The fact that she refrained from mentioning Sesshoumaru, Kouga, Kikyou, or the fact that he'd forgotten Tetsusaiga in his room and unintentionally avoided further conflict didn't seem to occur to him, and she was almost tempted to enlighten him before she returned to her room. _He's lucky he's never had the chance to laugh at me before and I can take it, or I'd verbally beat him into a pulp again... _

She did have to admit, after her brief bath and as she dozed off with Buyo and Shippou, that it was a small price to pay to keep him happy. Frankly, she was amazed that he hadn't gone off the deep end with all that'd happened...Sesshoumaru alone should've made it start snowing again. But here he was, his own wonderfully infuriating self again already. _I need to send Konami a letter: "Dear whoever invented DDR: thanks for letting my favorite half-dog-demon laugh at me and keeping it from snowing." _That would go over well...if she was lucky, they wouldn't bother to have her locked up.

Inuyasha was in a deeply contemplative mood at the moment. His side was still extremely stiff and sore, and he distracted himself by trying to figure out why Kagome had been such a pushover at dinner. _Feh. Probably just tired from playing that thing and then teaching everyone yet another pointless card game. _He hadn't minded being excluded _too _much, as any game involving speed/slapping the cards was forbidden to anyone with his speed or natural armament anyway, and watching had been almost as good. Not as good as watching the first game, of course—

That thought made him smirk yet again, and he stretched out carefully. _Nah, wench was probably trying to distract me from going after Fluffy. Gotta give her credit, it worked, and I don't even care that much...I guess... _He frowned. _She was almost as mad as I was when she started talking about the curse. Wonder who told her...was it Kikyou? _His insides went cold. _Would she do that, on top of everything else?_

Now he almost regretted the monk's absence; anything to take his mind off everything would've come in handy. _Dammit, where's the wench when I need her? _

Inuyasha grimaced. That last bit had a ring to it he didn't like, all the more so because, for a moment there, he'd _really _considered going down and bugging her at this hour. _I'm not her pet, dammit, and I'm not gonna act like it. _With that, he closed his eyes and forced his mind blank, allowing his weary body to fall asleep.

* * *

Kagome didn't see Kouga at all the next morning. Inuyasha's mood improved noticeably when he found out that the wolf hadn't been seen at all since yesterday, and he was almost sunny by lunchtime: he had memorized the whole alphabet, could credibly pronounce most of it, and was well on his way to learning how to write the first five letters. He'd forgotten about the laptop entirely, but looking at his claws, Kagome thought it a blessing in disguise. _No way he'll ever be able to type with those things._

"It's really pretty impressive," Kagome told Sango as they joined her, Miroku and Shippou outside for another impromptu picnic. The weather, while not perfect thanks to the damp ground, was unusually nice for a post-rainy day, not at all muggy. "He's learning a lot faster than I thought he would."

"Keh." Inuyasha couldn't keep a smirk off his face, though he did refrain from bragging, which Kagome thought was rather to his credit. Of course, hunger spurred by his body's need to support its accelerated healing probably had something to do with it, too, but...

"Kagome?" Shippou patted her knee. "Can we start the treehouse soon?"

"Sure. We can pick out a site today and start planning it if you want." Kagome smiled at his shout of joy and bound off her lap, knowing everyone concerned would hear about it within minutes now. "Miroku-sama, Inuyasha, d'you want to come?"

"Of course," Miroku answered as Inuyasha was gulping down his food, eyeing him resentfully. "It would be best to stay together in case we have any more unexpected visitors."

The mention put a slight damper on things, which was actually a bit lifted when Shippou came back to report that the children had almost all been set to tasks for the day already, and unless Kagome-sama had explicitly requested their presence, they were not to be released; the kit was too intelligent to lie and expect to get away with it. Even as she reassured Shippou, Kagome could feel the others sharing her relief: the children would prove less than helpful until they actually started work and could give them specific things to do.

By more unspoken assent, Sango and Kagome shied away from the site of the confrontation yesterday, choosing a smaller but fairly sturdy tree whose branches interlaced into a near-platform with its neighbor. "That looks pretty good. Not too high for the kids, but high enough," Kagome said, crouching to begin a rough sketch of the trees and branches with a pencil and scroll Kirara had fetched from her room. "First, we'll need a rope ladder to allow everyone to climb up. We can have the littler kids do that while the bigger ones work. Now, we need to fix the house to the branches at three or four points, in a square shape, and we can do that here, here, here, and maybe here...Inuyasha, can you go check if the wood's strong enough in those areas, please?"

Making a great show of reluctance, the hanyou got up and leapt up, concealing a twinge in his sore ribs as he tested the branches all around. "It should be fine, wench. Not going to be too big, is this thing?"

"Nope, it'll be like a very small hut. It's safer that way. How's the wind up there? Not too strong, you think? If the trees move around too much, we're gonna have to plan it a lot more carefully."

Inuyasha pronounced the trees and branches acceptable, leaping down to join them as Kagome began to explain how to build the triangular support frame that would hold up the floor. Miroku and Sango periodically asked for clarification or made suggestions for the design Kagome was sketching, but Inuyasha stayed quiet till Kagome sought his opinion on the house's size, based upon their supply of wood. His answer – "I dunno. We could make it as high as the castle roof if you really want to" – was good for a few more minutes of bickering, till Shippou broke in and asked if they were supposed to build it in the air or move it up from the ground once it was already made. _That _argument – namely, whether they simply constructed the floor, walls and all up in the tree as Inuyasha suggested or whether they build it on the ground, where most of the children could actually participate without fear of breaking their necks, as per Kagome's retort – was settled by a rapid flurry of jan-ken-pon.

"Ha! We're making it down here!" Kagome tapped his index and middle fingers with her fist. "You _always _do scissors."

"Feh. Well, don't expect me to do all the work," Inuyasha grumbled. "Now, how much wood are we gonna need for this crap?"

_We? _He was hooked. Kagome nearly rubbed her hands together. "Well, I'll have to guesstimate a lot of it, but if we figure it out now and get the men to cut more than we think we need, it should be fine. I'll have Ginta get us tools and bolts to actually put the wood t—"

"Nuh-uh." Inuyasha tapped his claws lightly on the scroll, making several tiny holes. "We don't need that crap."

Kagome scowled. "But, Inuyasha—"

"Actually, I'll have to agree with him on this score," Sango said, and Miroku nodded. "You may be used to modern tools, but you should realize that all this..." She waved her hand back at the castle. "...was done without them. Surely we can construct a small dwelling without extra help."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry." Kagome tapped her chin. "I saw a farmhouse reconstructed once...you use lots of weird cuts and wooden stakes to keep everything together, right?"

Miroku nodded. "Something like that. The men of the castle would be able to offer the best help."

"All righty, then," Kagome said in English. "That means 'all right, then.'" She stretched, wincing as her spine cracked. "Ow. That was a good one."

"Get off your ass and walk around for a change," Inuyasha muttered, offering her a careful hand up. "It's almost time to eat anyway."

To her surprise, it was indeed almost lunchtime already. Ignoring Inuyasha's protests, Kagome sent Kirara and Shippou to retrieve food and climbed up herself. "What, you don't think I can't tell living wood from rotten, dead ones?" he griped, leaping up into the opposite tree to glare at her. "Get down already."

"I'm fine, Inuyasha. I've been climbing trees to get Souta out of 'em for years." Kagome settled into a fork a bit higher up and slung one leg over the side. "And if I fall, you can catch me and harass me about it for the next month."

Inuyasha scowled and steadied himself to step over to her branch. She crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue.

"Hey, monk."

An unwelcome voice brought their heads down sharply. Kouga had appeared and was looking around, addressing Miroku irritably. "Where's Kagome and the freak? They smell like they were just here."

Inuyasha held up a hand to silence Kagome and jumped down. "What the hell do _you_ want?"

Kouga glanced up, spotted Kagome and was instantly all smiles. "Hey, there you are. Come down so I can tell you the rest of what'll happen when the curse is up."

"I'm comfortable, Kouga-kun, but I'm listening. Go for it," she answered, wondering at Inuyasha's sputtering rage till she realized how she'd addressed the wolf. _Oops. Well, he's not that bad a guy, s'not like it means anything..._

Both males' expressions said otherwise. Kouga gave Inuyasha a meaningful look and sauntered closer to the tree. "If you like. I know it's a pain for you to move right now. I'm not big on trees, so I'll stay down here." He crossed his arms, leaning against the trunk and speaking upwards, completely ignoring Inuyasha. "Here's how it's gonna work, as far as I know...

"Sesshoumaru is a hell of a lot richer and more powerful than we are. Sucks to admit it, but it's true." Kouga shrugged. "Jaken saw me as he was leaving and gave me all kinds of crap, so I told him some of the truth. I didn't know he'd go and track down Ginta and threaten him till he knew _everything_ till Ginta came by to tell me about it later. Jaken did some back-and-forth on his phone thing, and he said Sesshoumaru would compromise."

"Oh?" Kagome didn't like the way this was going. Again. "What kind of compromise?"

"Pretty simple. We wait out the curse, he lends us the money to buy the land from Kagome's dad, and they start faking reports to get things ready for development. Then we use his money to clear out two different spots on the land, one for us to use as a kind of den, and another for plans he'll give us."

"What's he going to do with it? And why let you live on what he thinks is his land?" Kagome asked curiously, keeping her eyes off Inuyasha lest she trigger what was surely a rapidly increasing temper.

Kouga snorted. "Like he tells _us _anything he's planning. I'm not real sure on the second point, but when I thought about it, my guess was that he doesn't think of us as a threat. Either that, or he's planning to have us move soon, or he's just going to kill us as soon as it's convenient. Don't know, don't care." Kouga grinned fiendishly. "Just as long as no one tells him the castle's gonna disappear. Ginta forgot that detail, and I don't see why I shouldn't, either."

Kagome rubbed her forehead wearily. "And when he kills you for 'forgetting' once it happens, I'm sure he'll laugh, too."

"Nah. We've got an alliance for now, and if he kills any of us, he's got to do his dirty work himself. Like I said, he's paranoid about letting people know he's doing anything."

"If you say so..." Kagome finally risked a glance at Inuyasha and blanched. "Kouga-kun, thanks for stopping by, but I think it's best you leave now. We're just about finished here anyway."

"Okay, then." Kouga bowed shortly and grinned again, adding in English, "Bye, dear."

"Good_bye_." She waited till he was out of sight to maneuver back down the tree and drop the last few feet to the ground. "Inuyasha, calm d—"

"'Things change,' do they?" His voice was almost painfully quiet, rage seething dangerously close to the surface. "'It might not happen'? What the _fuck _do you think you're doing trying to convince me you don't want this to be over one second, then chatting about it like it's nothing with _him _the next!"

"You can't solve a problem unless you understand it, Inuyasha! I was _not _trying to make light of it or make it sound like I was looking forward to it!"

"But that doesn't stop you from planning ahead _right in front of me, _does it!"

"If I tried to talk to him about it alone, you'd just get jealous on top of everything else!" Kagome gripped her shirt bottom tightly to keep from grabbing his haori and trying to shake some sense into him. "It won't go away if we ignore it, you idiot! Would you rather have Fluffy spring it on you three days before the curse ends or something!"

"At least then _he'd _be the one rubbing my nose in it! Not you and that fleabitten, backstabbing jerkoff!"

Kagome's jaw dropped. "You...you..." She gritted her teeth, rising on tiptoe to hiss directly into his wrathful face. "How _dare _you try to blame all this on _me_? You're not even killing the messenger—that would be too easy! You already hate Kouga as it is! Don't you _dare _try to turn this into something _I _did wrong! I'm sorry it came up in front of you, but there was—"

"I can't believe this!" Inuyasha turned on his heel and marched off. "Don't bother coming to dinner tonight, wench!"

"Fine! Go sulk by yourself! See if I care!" Kagome turned and sprang right back into the tree, scraping her hands and jarring her tailbone as she threw herself back into the fork. "In fact, you can go the rest of the time without sleeping _at all_!"

Nothing Sango or Miroku could say to either of them helped, and true to her word, Kagome remained in her room at dinner, fuming and playing Speed with Sango till the slayer's hands started to smart. "This isn't a slapping game, Kagome-chan," she pointed out the fifth time Kagome's hand crashed into hers. "I thought you said part of the object was to see if the players could use the same two piles without touching."

"Grrrrrmph." That was all the answer she seemed ready to give, and Sango permitted her friend to win without further comment.

That night, both lay awake in their rooms long after it was time to be asleep. Neither slayer nor monk attempted conversation with their respective companions, and thus Kagome and Inuyasha were each able to enjoy their anger to the fullest.

_Can't believe he actually turned around and blamed everything on _me, Kagome fumed. _He knows damn well I'm on his side and I hate the prospect of him killing everyone, much less himself...dammit, I'm ready to cry just thinking about it. It can't be that he wants me to break it—he's said as much a million times. So what the hell is his problem? _She turned over and sighed loudly, growling at Buyo's rumble of protest. The calico immediately joined Shippou at the foot of Sango's futon. _Even they're deserting me! Friggin' jerk's turned me into some kind of monster...jerk... _Kagome turned back over, sniffing despite herself. _See if I care. He's an idiot. I shouldn't let my feelings get hurt by someone that dumb._

But of course, if that worked, she wouldn't have let herself even like him in the first place, much less...

In many ways, Kagome was still better off than Inuyasha, who did not have the ability to fall into uneasy slumber or admit important things to himself, such as the fact that he'd taken his anger at his helplessness out on Kagome. _Wench should've told Kouga to piss off...and what was with the way she was smiling at him, calling him that...?_

Nope. That didn't work, either. He growled and got up to pace around the room. Nearby, Miroku sighed to himself, wishing more than ever that Sango hadn't insisted upon a set rotation of nights together and apart.

Why was this getting to him so much? When Fluffy had insulted his mother and all but caved his chest in, he hadn't stayed really angry for more than a few minutes. Granted, pain, worry over Kagome's possible dismemberment and then the distraction of watching her play had helped, but...well, he guessed the only real difference was that she'd been defending him before, and now it was more like she was dismissing him. She probably meant it when she said she hadn't tried to make him feel that way...okay, he _knew _she meant it, and that talking about it wasn't her thing, either...but couldn't she have gone about it differently?

The fact that he couldn't think of any ways in which she could've did nothing to allay his irritation, especially with himself. _Moron. That's what you get for giving a crap what she thinks about you. You even think she doesn't care, and suddenly you get as anal as Fluffy. _Ugh. He immediately retracted that one. _Forget it. This sucks. I'm goin' to bed. _

Bed did not equal sleep, though, and thus it was that he lay awake all night, at a complete loss till the sun's rays peeped around the edges of the window covering and something occurred to him. _Huh. Well, if it works..._

* * *

Kagome was not in the mood for lessons the next morning; she went straight to where the men were at work cutting wood and discussed the various pieces, dimensions and shapes needed for the treehouse, curtailing her irritation with their skepticism at a lady being in charge of something so unladylike as building a hut in a tree. Supervising the work wasn't necessary, either, she soon found, and she spent the rest of the day in her room with Sango, Shippou, Miroku and Kohaku, showing DDR off and explaining it to the younger slayer by way of distraction. 

Soon, though, the thunderclouds over her head started to give way at Kohaku's amazement and first clumsy attempts to play; soon she'd persuaded Sango to give it a try as well, and her friend nearly passed the first song, insisting upon a second try till Miroku indicated curiosity and she nearly shoved him onto the mat in her place.

It is a natural law that one cannot stay angry when one is watching first-time DDR players, particularly when one is introducing the game to one's friends, and all the more so when one's friends prove to be either very good or very bad. And when said friends literally came from another world, and attempt to play as they are...the juxtaposition of Miroku setting his staff down in front of the TV, concentrating on the screen and beginning his first few hesitant steps as the song...she was moved to _tears_ by the time he was through.

"You weren't quite as vocal when the others tried," the monk said almost resentfully, stepping off the pad. "And by the looks of it, I did quite well."

"Yeah...you..." Kagome wiped her eyes and looked at the screen. "Wow, you got a C. That's really good for your first try...but—" The mental image of him stomping on the right arrow brought the giggles back with a vengeance. "Oh, God, I'm sorry I got so mad at Inuyasha yesterday! I had no idea it'd be _this _out of place here!"

Inuyasha didn't have the courage to go downstairs, much less check in her room, till it was late afternoon. He stopped by the kitchens long enough to ensure the meals Miroku had had prepared ahead of time were ready, then made himself go right to Kagome's room. Even without the sight and sounds of various servants gossiping like mad about the odd noises coming from Kagome-sama's chamber, he could feel the game's music deep in his earbones. _How do they stand to listen to that constantly?_

Deep breath...open one shoji...let it out, and open the next. _What the...!_

Kagome was literally on the floor laughing, Shippou standing calmly next to her, while Sango and Kohaku watched Miroku prance around on the mat, grinning and gaping, respectively. Inuyasha couldn't blame them: the bouzu did look pretty damn funny hopping like that. "Oi. Miroku."

"One moment, Inuyasha, this song is only halfway through." Miroku grimaced as the lapse in concentration cost him several steps.

"Yeah, Inuyasha, it's the worst breach of DDR etiquette imaginable to interrupt," Kagome said severely from the floor, pushing herself to her knees and wiping her eyes. "Did you wanna try next?"

"Ah...no. Hell no." Oddly enough, he was more disappointed than relieved. _Why's she so happy? I've been miserable all day... _There was also the fact that his surprise, intended to keep her from sulking or getting more upset, was pretty much wasted now. _Dammit! Wench always ruins everything somehow!_

"You're no fun...but it's probably for the best. You'd stomp right through the mat—they're really easy to break." Kagome stood unsteadily, clapping at the end of the song. "Nice one, Miroku-sama. That's probably enough for today, though."

Kohaku made a disappointed noise, and Kagome flicked his nose gently. Inuyasha felt an unreasoning stab of resentment at the same gesture _he'd _gotten yesterday. "You can go first next time, Kohaku-kun. Okay?"

"Time for dinner." Inuyasha jerked his head back. "C'mon, hurry up."

"Now?" Kagome's expression turned expectant. "Why so early?"

_Crap! _"I'm hungry, dammit. Now move your ass or I'm leaving you behind."

"Yay!" There was no doubt he'd given himself away now, and he grew surlier as Kagome clapped and quickly turned the electronics off. "Hold on, lemme grab a sweater. It feels cool outside."

His stop to pick up the two boxes at the kitchen confirmed her suspicions, and she almost skipped up the stairs to the second and third floors. "Watch yourself, wench," Inuyasha snapped, certain her twirling steps would send her flying any second now.

"I'm okay. See?" Kagome stepped onto the third floor landing and nearly jogged down the corridor. "Come on!"

It was lucky she was preoccupied, or else the pull from the strange door between Inuyasha's room and door to the balcony would have stopped her dead. _Huh? _It had been so long that she'd nearly forgotten about it. _Nuts. Should've mentioned it to Kikyou...so she could say she knew already and not tell me anything, most likely. Hmph._

"Quit dragging your feet." Inuyasha herded her away from the door tensely, not relaxing till they were out on the balcony and he could set the boxes down.

"Nice day," Kagome said absently, squinting at the setting sun's array of purples, soft gold-pink and reddish orange on the forest. She shivered at a cool breeze on her neck and hastened to button her red sweater up. "Are you still cranky from yesterday?"

"Get on." Sighing, she obediently crossed the short balcony and looped her arms around his neck, letting her legs dangle for the short jump across.

"You don't have to be afraid to get on all the way, y'know. I'm all healed already." Inuyasha picked up the boxes in one hand as she hesitated, then shrugged and looped her legs around his waist. "Ready?"

"Y—" They were off the ground, and she nearly bit her tongue. "Jerk!" she yelled above the wind, and he snorted, turning his head slightly at the top of their arc, then looking back to gauge their landing and come down on both feet, letting his spine absorb the shock.

"Here." He waited for her to slide off and turned to hand her one box. "Moon's full tonight, so we don't need any torches or anything."

"Thanks." Kagome sat down facing the sunset and rested her hands on the box, committing the colors, shapes and patterns to memory in case she ever learned to paint. "This is really beautiful. I appreciate you bringing me up here."

"I was gonna try to get you to stop being so pissy, but it looks like the bouzu beat me to it." Inuyasha sat down a few feet away and unpacked his box. "Eat before it gets cold, Kagome."

"Okay." She lifted out her bowl, chopsticks, jug of tea and a wrapped fish, setting them down atop the lid like a small table.

The air grew steadily cooler as the sun set, and though their fight from yesterday wasn't far from either mind, neither could think of how to bring it up peacefully. Inuyasha still felt a bit stupid at his plan to take her up here and get her to relax, then make her apologize. _Do I really wanna come out and say "Apologize for yesterday" and start it all over again when she's already over it and might not even remember what I was so pissed about?_

Come to think of it, sitting in silence, watching the horizon darken and listening to the wind sigh through the trees, he wasn't sure he did, either. _...Oh, yeah. Kouga said a bunch of crap and she asked questions. _Not the best basis from which to spring a demand for an apology on someone, especially not a girl proven _more _than capable of deflecting even his best assaults.

His mind was just starting to work around to it when his left ear twitched gently. "Did you say something?"

"No..." Kagome set down her rice and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at you. Just thinking of this stupid dream about Sesshoumaru I had a couple of nights ago."

"Oh?" Curiosity piqued, Inuyasha finished off his tea and half-turned towards her. It was good she no longer smelled _interesting_, or the sight of her profile against the velvety blue-black sky would've given him serious problems. "About Fluffy, eh? Was this before you met him?"

"Yeah...you know how you sometimes dream about things or people, and it's obviously not them, but you _know _it's them? This was one of those." She buried her head in her hands, shaking it. "I dreamed he came by and tried to threaten us, only he had a huge red ball on his nose and everyone laughed at him instead."

Inuyasha smirked. "I can see that happening. When I was a pup, I just dreamed about killing him."

"Never had any funny dreams?" Kagome asked, lacing her fingers together and pushing them out to hear them pop.

"Nah, nothing you'd think was funny." Inuyasha repacked the box with his empty utensils and lay flat on his back, arms folded under his head.

"That's too bad. I used to have the weirdest ones when I was really little..." Kagome pushed her food aside and also stretched out, angling so that their heads were a discreet distance apart but still fairly close. "Once, when I was seven, I dreamed Dad was really an alien – a being not even from this world, it's a long story – and when I woke up, I kept thinking it was true. I'd hide and watch him all the time to see if he ever did anything weird. I think I even poked him with a fork to see if his skin was metal or not."

"Ouch." Inuyasha winced at the thought. "So you've always been violent, eh?"

"I'll have you know I was born perfectly fine, Inuyasha. My brothers and sisters corrupted me. It was their fault," she said loftily, crossing her arms as the breeze wafted cold across her face and chest. It suddenly took quite a bit of work not to think of the last time she'd been cold, laying down out here...

"Yeah, I only had one. Course, he tried to kill me whenever he saw me, but Mom and Dad wouldn't let him." Inuyasha yawned, glancing over at her when there was no response. "Kagome? Somethin' wrong?"

"No," she said quietly.

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose as sorrow hit it and left a bad taste in his mouth. "That's such a load of crap, I can smell it."

Kagome choked on a laugh, sitting up to swallow the rest of her tea and regain her composure. "Okay, okay..." She lay back and looked up at the moon, rising full and huge, surprisingly bright. "You're right. I just don't want to talk about it. Okay? Okay."

Inuyasha was quiet, mind churning curiously. When was the last time she got like this? It didn't seem like at the river... The other time, they were out here, a while back, talking about family...hmmm... "Does this have anything to do with why you hate the smell of rain?"

Kagome's legs jerked. "Yes." _Why the hell does he have to turn perceptive now! _"I really don't want to talk about it."

"Fine. If you say so." He shrugged, secretly disappointed. Not that he cared, of course, but he hated that damn smell. Besides, the whole point of coming up had been to make her happy, not get sad over something and then refuse to tell him about it.

"...I do."

_Dammit_... 

Kagome sighed deeply and closed her eyes. _He told _me _plenty of stuff...but... _"I'll make you a deal. If you still wanna hear about it any time after tonight, I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone. It's not that interesting, though."

Inuyasha grunted. "Fine. Only if you want to, though. I'm not forcing you." He yawned again, reminding himself to decide whether to ask or not later. It had his curiosity going, to be sure, but if it hurt her to think about it... "I almost never dream anyway. The best I get is daydreaming about squashing the wolf's head."

Kagome was severaly tempted to hug him for respecting her privacy, but she settled for a snort and a caustic look. "Do you ever think of anything else?"

"Not really," Inuyasha lied easily. Another breeze made her shiver harder, and he sat up. "You want to go in, wench?"

"Not really." She smiled at him, rubbing her arms. "It's so pretty out here. The castle gets stuffy sometimes."

"Yeah..." He stood and walked around a few steps, glancing down at her. "What're you looking at?"

"You. Your hair looks cool." Actually, the moonlight did him serious credit all over, but his faintly glowing mane was easily the winner. Kagome patted the ground where he'd been sitting.

"Not again...do you have some kind of fetish or something?" Despite his grumbling, Inuyasha sank to his side and propped his face up on his elbow facing away from her without further prompting.

"I guess. You're not helping, either." She leaned over and began to separate the back of his hair into large braids. _Can't believe it's only been a month and a week now..._

A few easy minutes passed, and he was half dozing when she laughed and tugged at the largest. "If you really hate me messing with your hair, I could always tickle you instead."

"Oh no you don't!" Momentarily forgetting how deeply her fingers were tangled, Inuyasha lurched forward, jerking her off balance and just as quickly turning to catch her as he sensed her falling.

Thus it was that she ended up half-on, half off the ground, held up easily with one arm, hands still in his hair. Face aflame, she slipped them free and tugged at his arm to pull her up. He obliged, helping her upright against his side. "Sorry about that," he muttered, heart thudding at the near miss and now the proximity.

"No, that was my fault. I shouldn't have teased you." Kagome tapped his chest apologetically, using shortness of breath as an excuse to lean against him and close her eyes for the shortest of moments.

Inuyasha grunted again, and she would've thought it was annoyance if not for his heartbeat against her right temple. "We'll call it even, then."

The moment turned into several, Kagome relaxing into his loose embrace and Inuyasha reflexively tightening it just a shade. He didn't need her body heat this time, of course, but he was bemused to note that he didn't really care. Besides, as always, she smelled nice. _So there._

They might have stayed there for hours if not for Kagome's eyes closing on their own, and she jerked awake, startling him into releasing her. "Sorry, didn't mean to," she said quickly as he leapt to his feet and started gathering the boxes.

"Mmmph." Inuyasha stacked them and crouched. "Come on, you need sleep."

Kagome smiled and shrugged. "I guess you're right." She climbed on and nudged the back of his head with her nose. "Don't be embarrassed. There's nothing wrong with hugging your friends. Besides, I'm kinda cold."

"All the more reason for you to get inside." He squeezed her legs and took off.

Despite his slight brusqueness as they landed, went in and parted at her door as usual, Kagome sensed he was more receptive to her explanation than he let on. _Good. If I can't convince him it's okay to be friends, at least, I'm gonna go nuts... _That would be good enough for her. For now. Or so she thought, anyway...

* * *

A/N: There we go. A bit later than intended, but I was having so much fun looking up DDR lyrics (kudos to anyone who knows that song, which by the way is on DDR Max, _not _Extreme, but I wanted to use it, dagnabbit) and treehouse stuff that it just took longer than intended. Sorry to Sis, who has been waiting for me to finish for hours now and is going nuts with boredom. Upload time... 


	24. Halfway

Disclaimer: Inuyasha own don't I. It got?

A/N: I wasn't going to answer any more questions for a little while, but I just have to shed some light on the last two chapters' titles...UsakoSerenity, you guys were both right, as part one referred specifically to Sesshoumaru and part two was inclined more towards poking fun at myself and/or punning. I like to do that whenever possible, so the question cracked me up. No one won that round. Sorry! (And nice catch on "Kind Lady," Chisuto—first review of the chappie, too. :D)

Shout-out to bijoux no miko for acting as a sounding board for names. Hi, Amy!

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 24**

Peace reigned in the castle for about seven or eight more hours at the very most, before Kagome and Inuyasha each awoke.

* * *

Kagome knew she was in trouble the moment her eyes popped open, staring wildly at the ceiling. _Oh God. I did _not _just dream about Inuyasha. _And in a particularly interesting context...nothing X-rated, but... _Oh, God! _She sniffed at herself desperately, remembered that she couldn't smell _that _and it wouldn't matter if she could anyway, and flung the comforter over her head. _Maybe if I just stay here, it'll go away? _She might also be able to count on the much heavier scent she'd be carting around for the next few days, anyway...

Not as if there was anything wrong with the dream itself. Far from it..._no! Bad Kag! Stop that! _She shook her head and flapped the comforter to get a breeze across her face. _I'm a healthy girl, and I love him, and there's nothing bad about...stuff......except of course when the moron can _smell _what I'm thinking! _

She sat up gingerly, shooting a glance at the kitsune curled up on her pillow. To her dismay, he stirred, stretched almost as lazily as Buyo, and rolled off to rub at his bleary green eyes and sniff at her avidly. "Morning....I thought you stopped smelling like that already."

A blanket of profane thought settled over Kagome's mind, but she forced a smile. "It's temporary. I'm gonna go change and take a bath. If Sango comes by, tell her to come meet me, would you, please?"

A temporary reprieve seemed in the cards as she opened the first shoji and heard footsteps approaching; smiling in considerable relief, Kagome balanced the clothes in her arms and opened the second shoji. "Hey, Sango-ch—"

"Well, someone's up early." Her smile froze at Kouga's surprised greeting. The wolf lord smiled and crossed his arms, eyeing the things in her arms. "Taking a bath already?" His nose twitched. "Oh, that's right, you females always want t—" His mouth stopped working right as his nose started back up without his apparent knowledge, and Kagome gulped at his knowing smirk. "I...see. Well, don't let me keep you." He half-bowed, moving aside so she could pass.

_If there was any justice in the world, my head would explode **rightnow**. _"Ah...heh heh...heh...uh...right." Of course he didn't know the source, but...

She was so eager to get away and find a hole to crawl into that she hardly noticed her feet were tangled up till she was halfway to the ground.

"Whoa!" Kouga grabbed her just in time. "Careful! You all right?"

"Yeah, thanks." She pulled away as soon as politeness and physics would permit and blinked, trying to get her bearings.

"Good. Here..." Before Kagome could stop him, Kouga had scooped all her clothes off the floor and compacted them against his chest, holding the small mess out to her. "Take it easy, eh?"

"Yeah, sure, thanks again," she chirped, forcing a nice smile to distract him from the frilly bra strap hanging halfway out as she all but snatched it back. "I'll see you in a few hours."

"No need. We're meeting on the ward's border to iron more details out, so I'll be out for the next couple of days." He bowed again. "I'll talk to you later, though. Tell dog-turd not to freak out too much about it, okay?"

"He'll notice soon enough, but it's not really like he can do anything about it." She grimaced at her own callousness. "Don't worry, I'll try to keep him sane about it."

Kouga nodded. "Good. I look forward to our next meeting..."

"Me, too. Later, then." Kagome ducked around him.

The bra strap promptly caught on one of his furred cuffs. Unaware of its function or significance, Kouga merely paused to unhook it with a casual "Pardon," and Kagome kept up her similarly cool façade till they were safely off in different directions and she had a chance to exhale and bang her head against the wall. _I _(thud) _am _(thud) _not _(thud) _getting _(thud) _a very _(thud) _good _(thud) _start—_

"Oi." Inuyasha's voice cracked as she was drawing back for another assault.

Her heart sank to her toenails. _And the clouds opened up and God said, "Hey, that wasn't bad enough! Let's see how much more she can take till she cracks like an egg under a sledgehammer!"_

* * *

Inuyasha had jerked awake at almost the precise moment Kagome did, except it was in utter triumph. _Ah HA! I _knew _there was something I forgot to bring up last night! _He'd completely forgotten to point out that he didn't give a rat's ass what Kouga did or didn't do so much as he minded the way she hadn't bothered to tell Kouga that she was going to try to have the land protected instead. Inuyasha wasn't stupid, and knew perfectly well that that worm who'd sired her would probably sell out the split second the wolf showed up and waved – what did she say the money was called now? – some yen around. However, this did _not_ mean she could pretend to go along with their little scheme, particularly when part of it was that damn wolf's blithe assumption that Kagome was _his _because he'd said so.

Once more grateful for Miroku's absence, Inuyasha flung off the cover of his futon and marched straight down to the first floor. He smelled wolf nearby and growled in disgust, ducking around to take a smaller side passage to the baths to avoid having to deal with Kouga. _Freak better stay away from Kagome, too..._He flexed his claws, too intent on murderous thoughts to hear voices till he came out the way the servants usually took to and from the baths. When he did, he stopped dead. _No. No way._

But his ears very distinctly confirmed what his nose was telling him. Kagome and Kouga were talking nearby, the latter speaking as he started to really listen. "...so I'll be out for the next couple of days. I'll talk to you later, though. Tell dog-turd not to freak out too much about it, okay?"

"He'll notice soon enough, but it's not really like he can do anything about it."

_What? Do anything about what?! _He edged closer as she paused, then spoke again. "Don't worry, I'll try to keep him sane."

"Good. I look forward to our next meeting..."

_Slimy brainless hairless smug stupid— _

"Me, too. Later, then."

Inuyasha reeled. _What the...?! That's all?! She's not even gonna yell at him?! _Kouga's "Pardon" almost escaped his notice as his mind raced to try to fit everything together. _The hell were they talking about...?_

The sound of Kagome's light step heading towards him and away from Kouga's stupid heavy ones snapped his ears forward, and the left swiveled as her pace stopped and a strange, dull noise started instead. He came around the corner. _...Hitting the wall with her head? What the...? That does it! Time for some damn answers! _"Oi."

She stopped, head still back, and looked around wildly, dread written all over her features. "Uh...hi."

Inuyasha came closer, wrinkling his nose at Kouga's odor. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Nothing!" Kagome gave her best 'I'm hiding something' smile and backed up. "Just going to take a bath."

"Without tracking Sango down? Or the brat?" Inuyasha's scowl deepened to a snarl as she matched pace, stepping back as he came forward. "Whatever you're tryin' to hide, spit it out and quit backing off. You're makin' me nervous."

Had he heard them talking? Kagome gulped again. "I just went to take a bath and Kouga bumped into me."

"He hurt you?" Inuyasha was beside her and gripping her arm loosely in the space of a blink. "Did he? If he so much as touched you, I'll—"

Kagome's world grew very small and cold as he stopped, eyes widening at the message his nose was screaming at his brain, and sniffed again. And again. "You..."

_I give up! Kill me now! _"It was nothing, Inuyasha, don't worry about it. He...it...it didn't hurt anything," she babbled, trying to pull free, mouth leaping to try to explain that the dream was just something stupid, nothing he needed to know about, before her brain could point out the obvious. His gaze had gone large and blank, red growing wider and wider as Kagome's mouth abruptly ran out of ideas. She tried to smile, but it felt and probably looked painful. "Uh...Inuyasha?"

All Inuyasha could do was put together what he'd heard and smelled. Under the pervasive odor of her cycle, _that _smell, just familiar enough to pluck at his nostrils. Kouga's stink coming from the clothes in her arms.

"_Tell dog-turd not to freak out too much about it, okay?"_

"_He'll notice soon enough, but it's not really like he can do anything about it."_

"_It didn't hurt anything."_

_No. No fucking **way. **_Inuyasha's teeth slowly ground down until that familiar prick on either side of his bottom lip reminded him he was biting himself again. As usual, he couldn't have cared less. "He just _bumped into _you?"

Kagome's breath lodged in her throat as his meaning slowly crawled into her understanding and began carving its initials into the walls. "Not literally. We just met outside my room, and he picked up my clothes when I dropped them," she heard herself say mechanically. _He can't be serious. He CAN'T!_

"Oh, really?" Inuyasha's eyes blazed. He sniffed shortly at the clothes. "It _reeks _of him."

"Yes, Inuyasha, in order to pick something up, you have to _touch _it." Kagome fought down the urge to slap him and chose her words carefully instead. "You're not insinuating anything, are you?"

"Why were you sneaking out in the first place? You never go bathe without company. Even when Sango and the bouzu don't come out of hiding till noon." Inuyasha watched her keenly, heart crumbling a little further at her defensive flinch. _...Gods. Why did I ever... _"So? Have anything you wanna confess, wench?"

Kagome's chin came up. She took a deep, ragged breath, torn between rage, hurt, disbelief and heartbreak at the pain he was trying to hide. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"Really." That came out flat, toneless, and she nodded defiantly. "So...nothing the wolf wanted you to tell me? That I maybe wouldn't want to hear?"

"He's meeting with his pack and maybe Sesshoumaru or Jaken again later. That was _all_. He wanted to tell me where he was going," Kagome answered, praying he wasn't too upset to know the difference between truth and lies.

"How cute." Inuyasha patted her arm lightly, then snatched the hand back to his nose. "And your _skin _smells like him...why?"

"You of all people should know that it's pretty hard to help someone up with telekinesis. He had to touch me for all of five seconds," she snapped. "For crap's sake, will you stop it? I didn't do anything!"

"What're you getting so defensive over if nothing's wrong?" he ground out, letting a familiar and comfortable wave of pure anger wash out the ache in his chest. _Bitch thinks she can lie about it when even _I_ can tell she's scared shitless of me finding something out? _

"I am _not _dignifying your paranoia with any further answers—but if you must know, I...I have other reasons for smelling weird, and shacking up is _not _among them! So leave me alone!" Kagome stepped away forcefully, going cold as he let his hand slip with no resistance. "Look, if you still don't believe me, go ask Shippou-ch—"

"Go take your bath." It took every shred of his self-control to keep up his sneer as her face fell, mouth slightly open and eyes beginning to glisten. "Don't gimme that look, wench. Guess I should lay off, though. S'your business, not mine."

"Inuyasha—"

"After all, I'm not even going to be around much longer, and you've gotta go back to your family sometime. Might as well have some rich asshole's puppet to keep handy in case things get too bad, right?"

Icy hands squeezed Kagome's lungs and wrung them out for good measure. She tried to swallow or work some moisture back into her mouth, but even her eyes had gone dry with sheer disbelief. He had not just said that. He _could not _have just said that.

Bile rising in his throat in violent self-disgust, Inuyasha waited for her to scream at him, or slap him, or cry, do something to punish him, ears half folded in anticipation. _Come on, wench, snap out of it, scream something at me, tell me it's true and get this over with... _The moment stretched out, agonizing both of them, and he growled. "Well?"

All her frustration, hurt and rage welled up, refilling her lungs till her whole body tensed as if ready to explode at any second with the force of it, and she directed the entirety into three well-enunciated words he did not expect. "I _hate_ you!"

Panting, she gritted her teeth and sized him up, waiting for a response. Inuyasha didn't so much as twitch.

That did it. Kagome turned and fled, dropping all her things in a blind rush to get away as fast as possible, not caring about the servants who came up curiously and flinched back at her expression, or how she nearly knocked Miroku down the outside steps in her launch at Sango, literally clinging to her friend.

"Kagome-chan? What in the...?" The slayer's good mood vanished, and she hurriedly half-lifted her silent, trembling friend up off the steps and pulled her aside, Miroku following closely and deflecting servants' inquiries as they went.

Sango patted Kagome's head timidly, soothing her as best she could till the servants were safely away – some already mingling with housemaids and trading information in order to piece it together as quickly as possible – and Kagome could speak unimpeded.

Of course, it only took one sentence to bring everyone nearby to a standstill. "_He did WHAT_?!"

"Jinx," she mumbled, almost managing a half-smile at her friends' simultaneous and identical reactions: they were _pissed_. "Yeah, he did accuse me of...that."

If Inuyasha regretted his words before Kagome ran away – which he did, overwhelmingly so, though he was still convinced that she was lying – he was wishing he'd never woken up that morning by the time noon rolled around. His head was sore from repeated blows from Sango's fist, Miroku's staff, and the frost in his servants' speech when he tried to request lunch in his room. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha-sama, but we've had some trouble in the kitchens and your food may be slightly delayed," one normally pleasant older woman told him, eyes drilling into his in a definite role reversal: he found himself squirming and couldn't stop. "We will attempt to serve you as soon as possible. Please accept our humblest apologies." His discomfort increased at the barest emphasis on the last word.

It was nearly an hour before he saw her again, and when the food did arrive, it was cold, undercooked and plainly made with the oldest ingredients at hand. He pushed it away in disgust. _The hell do they think they're lecturing _me _for?! Okay, I was kind of an ass about it, but still, she has no right to cozy up to me, spout all that crap about being friends and then lie about **him**! _

"As trusting as ever, Inuyasha." The last voice he needed to hear rang directly into his ears, and he jumped around to face Kikyou, scattering food everywhere. "Amusing, how little time it took her to win the entire castle to her side...save you, of course."

"I don't want to hear it, Kikyou." Inuyasha crossed his arms irritably. "What do you want?"

Kikyou raised an eyebrow. "I need a reason to see you? Particularly when that girl must have relayed to you that I am willing to consider your version of our...parting?"

Inuyasha paused mid-turn. "What..." He straightened, ears swiveling. "What did you say?"

"Didn't she tell you? I now try to consider that error or even perhaps fate played a part in that night, even if I have yet to find a decent explanation." Kikyou smiled thinly. "I see she did not. I hardly blame her—neither of you have discussed me for quite some time. You seem to prefer talking about each other...or others, of course."

He couldn't answer, busy as his mind was trying to figure out her sudden change of heart and just how much she'd been watching them for all this time. Of _course _he hadn't forgotten about her, but life with Kagome around had turned so, well, _interesting _that he couldn't recall the last time he'd seen her. Renewed guilt and self-hatred stabbed at him. _Shit. I'm completely worthless to _both _of them..._

"I leave you to your thoughts. Tell the girl I wish her luck with her foolish endeavor in the woods—one hopes none of the children are harmed because of it." Inuyasha opened his mouth defensively – to say what, he had no clue – but she was no longer there.

The only prospect worse than having to eat dinner alone with half-frozen, half-burned fish and gummy rice was actually having to eat with her after that morning. Inuyasha was therefore bitterly unsurprised when the evening rolled around and Kagome came up just before the servants did. She nodded shortly at him and knelt in her usual place, eyes distant but otherwise appearing perfectly normal.

_Like hell. _Inuyasha tested the air discreetly and discerned anger, hurt, sadness, tear-salt, that sweet brown stuff she liked to give Shippou, and some kind of obnoxious, flowery artificial scent. _Four out of six, anyway. _

Kagome deliberately kept him hanging till the meal was nearly over. She set her bowl down lightly, and he nearly had a heart attack at the slight sound. "I have one question, maybe two, and I want honest answers, please."

All sorts of caustic rejoinders sprang to Inuyasha's mind, but he literally bit his tongue and nodded instead.

"First, I'd like to know if you're even willing to consider believing me. If not, explain why. No yelling, accusations, or anything. Just explain, please."

"I..." Doubt snuck up on him and began prickling his scalp. He'd rarely wanted anything so much as he wanted his assumption to be wrong. If he discovered that even _she'd_ turned on him, he didn't know what he was going to do. "I...look, it made sense at the time, and I was mad anyway 'cause you didn't do what you always do and tell him off when he starts talking about all that 'afterwards' crap, even though he still thinks you're..."

He faltered as he glanced up and caught a long and very warning look. "Yeah, I know we were supposed to be done with that fight, but that got to me and I forgot to bring it up, and then I smelled..." He shrugged. "You acted like you knew about it this time." Inuyasha looked her fully in the eye for the first time, relaxing slightly at her less homicidal posture. "And you acted so defensive, I just figured that was it. You still haven't given me any other explanation."

"Because it's embarrassing," she retorted. "I just...look, I...it..." She massaged her temples. "I know I smelled when I woke up, 'cause Shippou commented on it. Ask him if you want."

Inuyasha's resolve softened almost completely, and the rest of him flared in alarm at the near-capitulation. _Not that easy! _"You could've bribed him or something. If it wasn't the damn wolf and you're not in heat, why else would you—"

"I don't believe you!" Kagome buried her face in her hands and rubbed her eyes. "I thought we were past the 'push the evil modern chick away at all costs and against all logic' part. I guess not, if you're willing to think I'd toss myself away on anyone that fast, much less him!"

"Okay, then, _fine_." Inuyasha folded his arms, ears flicking nonstop. "I'll be open to the idea that maybe you didn't, but I won't be convinced till you offer me some proof. Good enough?"

Kagome scowled at him. That sounded a little familiar. "You didn't have any visitors today other than cranky servants, did you?"

"Maybe." Inuyasha let that hang for a minute. "Point is, you never finished. What was the other question?"

"How d'you pass my not finishing off as the point of this conversation?" Kagome stuck her tongue out. "I was also going to ask if we could just forget about it, and until you get it through your hairy skull that I'm telling the truth, it looks like that's what's gonna happen anyway."

"Oh, yeah?" Inuyasha couldn't think of any other response.

"Yeah, actually." Kagome tapped a rhythm he recognized from a DDR song on the tatami. "I have an idea. Why don't we just agree to not talk about this for a while? I'm still kinda mad, but fighting isn't getting us anywhere."

"_You're _still mad?"

"YES." Inuyasha twitched all over. "In fact, this conversation is no longer open. We are not discussing Kouga, the land, your brother, or anything else until it comes up again in a fresh conversation from an outside source, or unless you decide to be mature about it. Okay?"

"But what about the way the wolf—"

"Baa."

"..._What_?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?"

"...I just want to know why that sme—"

"Baa."

"Dammit, Kagome! Quit making sheep noises!"

"You're the one making sheep noises, not me."

"Wh...what the...?"

"What did I say that even remotely resembled a sheep noise?"

"Don't try this on _me_, wench! You said 'baa'!"

"Whatever are you making sheep noises for, Inuyasha?"

Silence, except for a few sputtering sounds.

"I agree. I'm glad we had this conversation." Mentally crediting Nabiki for a foolproof subject-stopper – confusion and contradiction were always reliable for getting off a topic – Kagome stood and folded her arms. "So, got anything to ask me?"

* * *

Sango was less than congratulatory upon hearing of her tactics at dinner. "You really should've told him the truth, just in more discreet form," she reprimanded her as they lay in the cool darkness. "He _was_ acting on instinct, but he does have a little human sense in his head somewhere."

"Instinct?" Kagome snorted. "What kind of instinct makes him act like a complete jerk?"

"For one thing, dog demons are exceptionally loyal, Kagome-chan, and they expect the same from members of their 'pack,' which you undoubtedly are by now..." Sango mulled that over briefly. _Except it's usually their mates they're the most jealous of, not merely acquaintances. But then, those two are probably closer to the former than that..._

Kagome also thought about it and made an irate noise, startling Buyo into turning over into the same comforter indentation he'd occupied all day, save for two meal breaks. "That doesn't excuse him from turning into a jealous psychopath at the slightest hint."

"No, it doesn't, but you should know better than anyone else how..." Sango cleared her throat. "How his...past associations...have left him very reluctant to fully trust anyone, even those closest to him, and how easily he can be hurt as a result."

"Yeah...it's like he's just waiting to turn around and find out I'm sneaking up on him with an ax." Kagome sighed. "It's not like I don't know why he acts the way he does, but it doesn't make it much easier to put up with his insecurity." _Damn Kikyou for ruining him like this... _She blinked, surprised and a little dismayed by her own vehemence. _Ease up, Kag, it wasn't her fault. He was born and raised to be himself now way before they met. And he's not a CD; she didn't scratch his bottom and then walk away. _The mental image _was _pretty funny, though, and she bit her lips to keep from laughing and having to explain herself.

"True. But you also must keep in mind that he's very protective of you, and he sees Kouga as a threat, perhaps even a rival, though he doesn't realize it. Just be careful, Kagome-chan."

"Sure, blame it on me..." Kagome yawned. _Rival? Pffft. No way... _"I'll think about it. Hey, how about starting on the treehouse tomorrow?"

"Yaay!" Shippou piped up in her ear.

Kagome sighed and tried to relax with the now-excited kit wriggling next to her on the pillow. _Big fat moron. I'm not his property, and Kouga hasn't tried anything in a while now anyway. _She yawned again, growing drowsy as Shippou's batteries finally began to wind down. _Guess it is kinda flattering from a very unfeminist point of view, him getting so worked up over me...not that it matters with the way he keeps his feelings super-glued down. _A stray thought made her grimace even as she drifted off. _Wonder how he acted when he told Kikyou he loved her..._

* * *

The next day, and the days after, though, kept her too busy to brood on those kind of icky, melancholy things. She conferred with some of the head servants (the ones who kept the place running with little or no help from her or Inuyasha, for which she was profoundly grateful) and cleared a little time in the early noon each day for everyone interested to come and either observe or help with the treehouse's construction. There were benefits for all: Miroku and Inuyasha got to interact with the other men of the castle more than they had for years before the curse was inflicted, as the men instructed them on how to make the intricate cuts and where to drive the stakes that would hold to wood together, and Inuyasha's strength provoked guarded compliments from the workers, many of whom had never had the chance to witness it before.

Then there were the children, who got free time either to play nearby, safely out of the way, or were assigned to small tasks like tying a rope ladder together – and occasionally to each other till Kagome intervened – collecting stray lumber or bringing food and drink out, bursting with pride at the opportunity to help Inuyasha-sama and the other men out; meanwhile, their mothers, aunts and other female relatives kept a careful eye on the younger children, kneeling just out of the woodwork's area and balancing infants on their laps, gossiping and chattering, relishing the rare chance to simply sit and talk during the day.

_Amazing what being forced to talk about something other than the four of us can do, _Kagome thought dryly on the morning of her somewhat official halfway point at Inuyasha's castle, one month and two weeks into the curse, roughly one month and two weeks to go. She rather liked observing and sometimes speaking with the women, who were proving more and more that people everywhere were just about the same. It also got her mind off how quickly the curse was running out...

Kagome accepted the place that had been reserved for her the first day, a cushion set at the head of a loose circle, and smiled as Sango knelt at her right. The slayer had been extremely stiff the first morning, and ignored by all, but Kagome's grimly determined politeness, coupled with her higher social status, forced her into joining the conversation, and now she could almost talk freely with the women who had formerly made her life miserable. The inevitable backbiting about her slowness or snobbishness after the informal meetings was soon drowned out by increasingly universal agreement that, while her taste was abysmal, perhaps Sango did not quite deserve to be regarded as a mannish pariah any more, and that was more than good enough for her and Kagome.

"Tell me, Sango-sama, do you and the houshi-sama plan to have children?" one kind but none-too-bright maid asked this particular morning.

Sango withheld her scowl and shrugged gracefully. "I'm afraid not, Keiko-sama. We're not certain enough about the future."

"Well, you must at least have Inuyasha-sama declare you wed, else your man will have to perform the ceremony himself," another noted, and Kagome joined the polite laughter, reminding herself sternly to remind Sango about it later.

Sango was saved from having to reply by a new arrival. "Saki-sama! Please join us." The slayer graciously moved aside so that the older woman wouldn't have to move herself or her two children – one baby in a sling and the other tucked in the crook of her arm – any further than necessary. "Are you feeling better?"

"You are too kind, everyone." Saki smiled at her and at the murmured inquiries from the circle. "I feel much better, as do the little ones."

Kagome grinned as one infant yawned, fussing as her mother shifted her around her sister. Slight ingrained cynicism or not, she was a sucker for kids, the younger, the worse so. "This may seem unusual, Saki-sama, but may I?" She held out her arms.

There were tolerant smiles all around as Saki carefully handed Kagome the baby. Odd as some of Kagome-sama's habits were, the women had taken to her thoroughly enough that her strange ways were simply ignored or accommodated. It would be unheard of for most feudal ladies to mingle with servants, much less play with their children in such an open and familiar manner, but, rather than losing respect for her, nearly all the servants chose to be slightly amused at the young woman's foibles and leave it at that.

Kagome knew all this, and frankly, she couldn't have cared much less. She balanced the child on her knees, bouncing gently and cooing at her. "What's her name?" she asked Saki, shifting the baby to her shoulder when there were no signs of objections.

Saki had to check the baby in the sling before she could answer. "Ah, you're holding Hanako, Kagome-sama. I have Yukiko here."

"Lovely." _Flower child and snow child. Gotta love Japanese names. _She liked Western names, too, but nothing beat her native language for sheer poetry in simple things. Kagome shifted Hanako so she could get a better look at the tiny face, marveling at the compact, scrunched features. "She's beautiful." Kagome made a little buzz with her lips, and everyone smiled as the baby's eyes grew huge. Kagome did it again and earned a wide, lopsided grin. She couldn't resist doing the same. "You like that, do you?"

"You've a marvelous way with children, Kagome-sama," Saki said warmly, rocking Yukiko against her chest as the infant stirred in her sleep.

"Oh, no, I'm just used to them. I practically raised my little brother..." Kagome shook off dark thoughts and buzzed again, earning a gurgle and two tiny hands batting at her face. "Oops, sorry, Hana-chan, you can't take it out."

She missed Saki exchanging glances with a few of the other mothers, and didn't look up when the servant spoke. "Ah...forgive me for being forward, Kagome-sama..."

"Not at all. Please go ahead," Kagome said automatically, absorbed in the baby's intent expression as she tried to grab the dark locks against Kagome's shoulders.

"Well..." Saki hesitated. "Our..." She stopped again.

"A former woman of high rank," someone supplied, and Saki nodded gratefully as Kagome looked up.

"Yes, thank you. A former woman of high rank had a custom of giving children born within the castle her own special name, and, well, I do apologize—" Everyone covered their amusement at Kagome's yelp: Hanako had succeeded in grabbing a tiny fistful. "...Apologize for such an asinine request, but, well, one of your graciousness and stature will surely forgive me if—"

"Would you like me to nickname them?" Kagome guessed, hoping she hadn't made an ass of herself. To her overwhelming relief, Saki's expression cleared, and she smiled. Kagome smiled back, pleased and flattered, then tapped Hanako lightly on the nose. "It would be my honor. Let's see..."

Unseen by the women, Inuyasha broke away from the men as they adjusted the fourth wall and tried to fit the roof against it so Miroku could begin affixing sutras. He wandered a few trees over and perched where he could listen and watch the little circle, ears pricking forward as Kagome's laughter drifted over.

Naturally, they were playing with babies. Inuyasha didn't know what the hell it was with women and other women's pups, but Kagome hadn't been able to explain it to him, and he guessed it was just a female thing. _Anything that makes sure there're always more is probably good in the long run. _

He idly listened to Saki's request, knot forming in his throat at the careful phrasing. He shook it off in curiosity as Kagome deliberated, handing the baby in her arms back to one woman, only to receive another. _Weird. Who wants to hold something with foul-smelling stuff always coming from one end or the other?_

His bemusement faded as Kagome coaxed the second baby into looking at her with a weird buzzing noise. The servants all laughed as the infant the woman had just taken back stretched her tiny arms out to Kagome at the sound. _Wench really does have a way with kids. _He'd never seen Kikyou around very young babies, so there was no comparison to make or not, though, something made him both smile and want to punch a hole through a tree at the way she rocked the child, holding her up and startling her by blowing a loud rasping noise on her tummy and grinning triumphantly when the razz finally elicited a huge grin. _Guess she'd make a damn good mom, too, the way she keeps the kids in line and they all still worship the ground she spits on. _This of course was none of his business, though, and he gripped the branch almost hard enough to split it at the thought of Kagome being wasted on someone like Kouga. _If I don't find out whether she was telling the truth or not soon, I'm gonna... _He hadn't had the courage to confront the wolf about it; besides, doing so would ensure that the servants heard about it, and that would humiliate Kagome. _No, as long as she's here, she's under my protection, dammit._

His ears reminded him that Kagome was speaking, and he turned with them at the sound. "I think, for Hanako..." She buzzed and touched the baby's forehead gently. "Minami. The best flowers always grow in the south. And you, Yukiko—you're Kita, because it always snows up north in Hokkaido, and I love it there."

The women – fully and comfortably including Sango, he saw with some shock – applauded the pair of names, north and south, how very clever, blah blah blah, and Inuyasha drummed his nails on the branch irritably. _She's just doing you a stupid favor. Get over it. Don't know why I'm listening to the hens cluck in the first place!_

However genuine his irritation was, though, he couldn't seem to tear his eyes off Kagome. In fact, he'd been doing that a lot lately, and it annoyed the hell out of him that he couldn't figure it or _her _out. _You'd think I'd get used to her and ignore it by now..._It wasn't that she was acting out of the ordinary or trying to be more alluring than usual—though he did approve of her decision to start wearing kimonos for the outside chats in order to blend in. Things between them had settled back down to their normal companionable bickering, and she headed off any attempts at unpleasant conversation with more barnyard noises, the result being he soon quit trying. Therefore, all was pretty much as okay as it could be. It was just...

_Ewwww. See, I told ya... _He was glad he couldn't smell it as Yukiko burped up and very narrowly avoided Kagome's hair. Luckily, she was in transit as it happened, so the ground was the main victim, and Kagome politely laughed off Saki's embarrassed apology.

What he _could _smell, though, and sense, brought his head around almost 180 degrees, and Kagome thought she caught a blur of red up in a tree as something caught at her awareness and she looked around. "Excuse me, ladies..." She got up, motioning urgently at Sango, and they said their goodbyes with some regret, Miroku doing likewise from the men at Sango's wave.

They found Inuyasha on all fours a little distance away, Tetsusaiga brushing the ground as he crawled along. Kagome couldn't hold a snort in. "What're you doing?"

"Tracking a scent, wench. What's it look like?" He raised his head and scowled. "Keh. I know I smelled something, and there's a demon I don't know out there...think the toad's with him."

"Jaken? Is Sesshoumaru...?"

"I said I don't know him, stupid, so it's not Fluffy." Inuyasha ignored her hand gesture and glared at the ground. "Whoever it is, he better have a _damn _good explanation for that stench."

"Why? Is there something peculiar about it?" Miroku winced as Sango whistled for Kirara next to his ear.

"Hells yes, there's something _peculiar. _Couldn't smell worse if he frickin' _tried_." Inuyasha leapt into the nearest tree and began casting around. "I _know _I smelled it, dammit!"

"If it's any help—"

"Would you shut up, wench? I'm tryin' to find it!"

"Okay, then." Kagome turned her back on him and addressed the other two. "So, do either of _you _care that I feel a demon not too far from here?"

Inuyasha promptly hopped down. "Where?"

Kagome rolled her eyes and pointed to the northeast.

"There's no scent coming from that direct—" Sniff. Sniff. "What the hell...?!" Inuyasha bounded off, and they had no choice but to follow at a trot.

The little group almost immediately came to a halt at the edge of a large clearing, staggering as a strong wind whipped at their faces, dying just as soon to reveal two visitors.

"Who the fuck are _you_?" Inuyasha greeted the stranger with his usual courtesy.

The object of his address, a tall woman, made no answer, looking down her long, finely sculpted nose at him before speaking sharply to her companion. "Jaken."

The toad demon ambled out in front of her, ugly features screwed up in evident distaste—whether of the woman, Inuyasha or both, Kagome wasn't certain. "You have the honor of standing before the heiress to the house of Morimoto, the honorable and terrible leader of demons and human alike, and though such an exalted name is not worthy of your ears, you may yet properly address her as HOT!"

Even Kirara gaped as the woman pulled a cigarette from the front of her excruciatingly fashionable black silk blouse, held it to slightly made-up red lips, snapped her fingers, took a single puff of the now-blazing cig and flicked it neatly atop the toad's head, all in less than ten seconds.

Her expression of refined disdain didn't so much as budge as Jaken clawed at the burning cigarette, running around in steaming circles before she snapped her fingers again and a tiny breeze sent it tumbling to a patch of bare ground.

"You _know _your lady hates your habit, Shimoko-gozen," Jaken whined, blinking bulbous eyes at her pleadingly.

Kagome had to think hard to remember that honorific. _Only titled ladies in the feudal era were called that...she must be pretty important. _Great. How many more scary/rich/powerful old demons were going to show up and harass them? And what did this one want, anyway?

She had to suppress a shiver as the woman's coppery red-orange eyes fixed on her. "You there, girl." Inuyasha promptly moved in front of Kagome, who squeezed his sleeve briefly before craning around to look at the woman again. "Ah, then you _must _be Higurashi Kagome."

Inuyasha growled. "What's it to ya, you stinking—"

"Jaken. Leave us." Beautiful ash-gray hair trailed from a loose ponytail high on the woman's head; Kagome watched it ripple like water as the demon turned her head. "You will tell our lady that I was successful, and you will _not _say anything else."

"Of course, Shimoko-gozen." Jaken bowed till his forehead thumped the ground. "By your leave..."

"Yes, by all means, leave." A wave of her hand, and they blinked: the toad was gone.

A long moment passed; the wind seemed to pick up again, ruffling the woman's hair again. Kagome momentarily felt drab in comparison—demon or not, this lady was more like a model in terms of looks, dress and bearing than most models Kagome had ever seen. Then Inuyasha moved in front of her again, and she had to smile. _Not that that matters to everyone..._

The woman gave a long, quivering, almost theatrical sigh, and turned back to them. "Forgive me. I can never resist giving the little bastard a hard time." She popped her knuckles so loudly that Kagome winced out of sympathy. "My name is Morimoto Shimoko, though you can call me just about whatever you like. If I like you, it's allowed, and if I don't like you, your opinion hardly matters, does it?"

"Cut the crap. Who are you, and why do you smell like the two biggest assholes in the world combined—not to mention they're both guys and one of 'em is dead?!" Inuyasha swiftly unsheathed Tetsusaiga and pointed it directly at the demon.

"Are you crazy?" Kagome hissed at him.

"Most likely, but not in this case," Shimoko answered with evident amusement. Kagome chose that moment to glance down at the cigarette, and started. It was gone.

"Don't worry, girl." Kagome jumped as Shimoko approached gracefully and Inuyasha gripped Tetsusaiga harder. "I made sure to send it back with him. I know I probably shouldn't, but after 150 years listening to him, you would, too."

"I guess so," Kagome said thoughtfully, laying a hand on Inuyasha's arm to restrain him. This woman didn't seem as bad as most of the other demons they'd encountered; besides, there was no telling if she was someone Inuyasha should be challenging.

"Look, just tell us who the hell you are and quit trying to act all friendly, okay, bitch?" Inuyasha snarled.

Shimoko's impeccable features furrowed into a rather impressive scowl. She whispered something under her breath and made a sweeping upward gesture: the Tetsusaiga was suddenly not in Inuyasha's hands anymore.

"Wh...what the...?!" Inuyasha gaped at his empty hands, then started back violently as Shimoko glided in and raised an eyebrow at his bewilderment.

"I'll give you your sword back, Inuyasha," she said evenly, stepping back smoothly and half-bowing. "Just come forward briefly so that I can explain my...ah...unique scent to you. First, though, I have a present for you from my lord and lady. Don't worry, I won't harm you," she added at his hesitation.

"This better be good, b—"

Their jaws dropped as Shimoko swooped down and suddenly enveloped him in a crushing hug, lifting him half off the ground and swinging him a bit like a rag doll. "There." She released him, and he choked, stumbling backwards and clawing at himself. "Oh, come now, I may have a little of Sesshoumaru's smell on me, but surely you don't hate him _that _much."

"Okay, one down," Inuyasha wheezed, letting Kagome go through the motions of checking him for injuries she knew wouldn't be there, biting her cheeks to hold utterly clueless laughter in. Miroku and Sango also didn't know whether to be alarmed or amused. "Crazy bitch.... Now tell us why you smell like—"

"Naraku?" Shimoko was no longer smiling. "That's hardly my fault. If you don't enjoy my scent, please stay away from my lady, or else your head will turn itself inside out."

"Please tell us, Shimoko-sama...who are you?" Kagome stood on tiptoe to get around Inuyasha's shoulder. "Are..." She squinted at the tall demon, and it suddenly occurred to her why the woman seemed so familiar. _Click. _"Are you Sesshoumaru's daughter?"

"Damn! It was going to be a bigger surprise," the woman grumbled, popping her knuckles again. Inuyasha's ruby eyes went as wide as Kagome had seen them yet, fangs hanging out as his jaw went slack. "He told me to annoy you as much as I could, and my mother said to thank you on her behalf, so I combined business with pleasure—I've always wanted to meet my uncle." Shimoko inclined her head, silver earrings shimmering.

"Was your mother a wind demon associated with the demon Inuyasha and...the priestess defeated?" Miroku asked from the back of the group, startling all save his addressee.

"You must be Miroku." Shimoko tilted her head, more curiously this time, and sniffed at the breeze that whispered past their ears towards her. "I believe the name you were searching for would be Kagura..." Miroku nodded. "Yes, that is my mother." She pouted slightly. "I was _so _looking forward to surprising you all, too. You're really no fun."

Kagome wondered briefly at the woman's shifts of attitude and speech – formal one second, then almost Western the next – but pushed it aside. "How was she associated with Naraku?"

"You're my _niece_?" Inuyasha had found his voice, though it was thin and squeaky. "Wh...how the hell did that happen?"

"This may explain all easier..." From the back of her loose white silk slacks, Shimoko removed a small, round object wrapped in velvet. "This is a relic of my aunt's, if you will. I believe she was killed shortly after Naraku..." She beckoned them closer, and Kagome nearly dragged Inuyasha in to watch her carefully unfold the velvet from a small, eerily glistening mirror.

"Wait one damn minute..." Inuyasha sniffed at it. "I remember that creepy little _thing_. Her name was Kanna, right?"

"Yep. My mother was actually rather fond of her, God knows why, so the fact that I was even allowed to touch it, much less ordered to bring it here, is one helluva big deal. Hope you appreciate it." Shimoko knelt in the grass and set the mirror down gently. "Gather 'round, everyone. This's gonna be quite a show."

* * *

A/N: I need more cliffies. I'm gonna fulfill that evil desire now and compensate with a big ol' chapter very very soon. Meanwhile, thanks for pushing my eg—I mean, review total to over 500, and I dedicate the entire last scene to Dori, who is probably wondering how Connor-san is going to get me to explain this. (Long story, nicknames and Irish Imp muses heavily involved.) We'll see, lassie, we'll see...in the meantime, I upload a little earlier than usual and thank God this is the last day I take Sis to school in the morning. Maybe I'll actually be awake and alert 'n stuff when I write one of these for once then.


	25. Indecision

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters except Shimoko, who is not making me any money. The point is, therefore, pretty much moot.

A/N: Chuggin' along here...clarification on Kouga, briefly, is that he's not leaving the wards (remember, he said they were meeting on the ward's _border, _i.e. still inside, which is one of the reasons why he told Kag about it—so she could calm Inuyasha down when he sensed the wolves coming back in); trust me, if he _could _leave, he wouldn't be there any longer than he had to. ; ) As it is, he stays as far away as he can a lot of the time. (And I do take requests from time to time...wink wink.)

Now, on with the show, which at this rate is going to be...uh...(carries the one) maybe 10 or 15 more chapters? Extremely rough guess there. I know precisely what's happening when, but God only knows how it'll translate to page length when I actually try to set it down...I'll probably pull a Rozefire and my guess'll be off by 5 or 10. Not that this is a bad thing—at least in her case. I hope it's not in mine. Yeah. Writing chapter now.

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 25**

"First rule: you _do not _touch the surface." Shimoko knelt and moved the mirror closer to her audience with a delicate push on the curved rim; the glass seemed to expand subtly, and Kagome wondered how the mirror had been small enough to tuck into Shimoko's none-too-roomy waistband when it was now almost as broad as her shoulders. The rim was plain, only a few centimeters across, with four pairs of slits at each 'corner,' and the glass was strangely dark, almost as if it absorbed light instead of reflecting it.

"What happens if we do, Shimoko-sama?" Sango voiced what everyone was thinking.

"My mother finds out and introduces her fan to your neck," the demon said absently, smoothing the grass from the mirror's edges.

Inuyasha snorted. "A fan?"

"Yep." Shimoko popped her knuckles and extended the back of one hand for them all to see. A tiny patchwork of threadlike white scars crisscrossed the delicate-looking flesh. "I don't have to remind you how easily we demons heal, but every time I forget myself around Mother..." She made a rapping gesture. "Never underestimate a woman who can rip you apart with a piece of paper and hates bad habits."

Kagome decided not to ask.

"Now, I want you all to place one finger – not your whole hand, just your fingertip – on the rim, _not _touching the surface, m'kay?" Shimoko nodded at Kagome, who obediently rested her index finger on the unnervingly cold, smooth border. "Good. Everyone, follow her example, if you would. And don't touch the glass."

Inuyasha was the last one to oblige, and he did so grudgingly. "I don't see what the hell the point of this—"

"Now!" Shimoko withdrew a white feather from the front of her blouse and jabbed the quill into the glass so hard that Kagome nearly expected one or both to crack.

Light roared silently out of the mirror, slamming into the four and freezing them in place as the forest melted, colors oozing out of focus all around and fading to deafening black.

"What the...?!" Inuyasha hissed, voice muffled but audible. Kagome tried to steady herself by leaning against him, and her heart slowed just a bit as he draped his free arm around her shoulders in response.

"You're in no danger. This is merely how the images are to be showed," Shimoko's voice said calmly through the curtain of darkness. "Look."

On the spot they knew to be the mirror covering the ground, a dim outline of a circle slowly began to form, glimmering stronger and stronger, light trickling from the silver-white border to fill the dead surface till the glass teemed with luminescence, growing steadily brighter. Kagome reflexively raised her hand to shield her eyes.

"Don't move, or we'll have to start over again," Shimoko said sharply, and Kagome quickly stilled, grateful she hadn't moved the hand on the rim.

"Fascinating," Miroku whispered across from Kagome, who glanced up at him and shuddered: even in the now-painfully glowing light, she couldn't see her own hands, nor any of her friends or Shimoko. "I'd heard of voyeurism mediums that connect one mind to another, but I never thought..."

"Very good, houshi. We are all connected loosely to the mirror now—it would be much easier if, say, I were the memory's source, but my mother had to send a replacement associated with that which she wished me to show you." Shimoko's voice dropped as the light suddenly receded and the circle began to clear back into a normal mirror's surface...or so it seemed till the 'reflection' began to form, moving without apparent input from any of them. "This is it. Watch carefully."

The picture that sharpened into focus the next moment took Kagome by surprise: it was the castle, from high in the air, a bit like the view she'd enjoyed from Inuyasha's back and the pavilion so many times. But this was obviously not the castle Kagome knew: she could also make out the outlines of rice paddies in the distance, soldiers patrolling the much bigger grounds, and a faint blot of red and white moving from the edge of the forest to approach the castle, arms loaded with something green. The soldiers moved back respectfully as the blob approached, and Kagome realized that it wasn't Inuyasha: that had to be Kikyou.

"What the...?" Inuyasha's voice murmured perilously close to the mirror's surface.

"Get back!" Shimoko's whiplash of a command jerked him upright as the mirror's picture veered around to get a more clear view of the priestess. "This may be very familiar to you, but you _will not _touch the image, do you understand?!"

Inuyasha snarled wordlessly, but the pat of Kagome's hand on his back effectively shut him up. His interest went right back to the mirror.

"This...this is the day _he _came..." Sango murmured breathlessly. "Look, there's Kirara on the ground...she sensed something and transformed...!"

"That would either be my mother watching, or Naraku. It doesn't matter."

None of the others shared Shimoko's indifference. Kagome jumped and heard Sango gasp as the image sharpened further into distinct lines, enabling them to catch Kikyou's expression as she strode up to where the slayer was chastising Miroku for something and spoke, lips moving in what looked like a command. The image-Sango responded, looking at the fire-cat and then gesturing towards the forest.

All hell broke loose as the priestess turned to speak to the nearest soldier, who was evidently some breed of demon and had just been turning away to avoid her: the trees erupted into splinters and leaves, wrenched violently aside by the biggest, ugliest spider Kagome had ever seen. _Damn, makes the one that attacked Inuyasha last month look like an ant...! _

"I believe this is where you came in...ah, yes." Sure enough, Shimoko paused just as another blur of red appeared in the mirror and leapt at the spider, taking advantage of the swath cut by Hiraikoutsu moments before to hack at its legs with his claws.

"Wow," Kagome whispered despite herself, eyes growing wider with every passing minute of the battle. She barely heard Shimoko's comment that it was entertaining no matter how many times she saw it, riveted as she was to the image as various soldiers joined in, dropped (or were thrown) out, and even Sango and Miroku were forced to fall back, the latter hacking at huge, hideous wasp-like things as they swooped at him.

"The Saimyousho," Miroku said grimly. "Their presence prohibited the use of my curse as a weapon, Kagome-sama, as they would fly into the Kazaana and poison me from the inside."

"Wow." What else could she say?

No one else spoke as the silent fight drew closer to a stalemate, with the spider's legs in mangled pieces but Inuyasha also bleeding from a dozen wounds, till he finally managed to draw its attention to himself long enough for Kikyou to draw her bow and obliterate it head-first, body crumbling to pieces in the force of the purifying blast.

"And that..."

Shimoko waited till the image froze on the image of Inuyasha dropping to his knees, head tilted towards the grim-faced priestess but away from their vantage point, and blurred into nothing, silver-white collecting like raindrops in the edges to fade back and allow them to adjust to the sudden change from dark to forest's midday light.

"That was when my mother knew she was free."

The white feather was still stuck upright in the mirror, almost as if the quill was lodged in clay instead of glass. Shimoko plucked it and slipped it back into her blouse.

"Free? Was she a prisoner?" Kagome removed her hand and rubbed at her sore neck, ducking out from under Inuyasha's arm and glancing at him curiously.

He didn't look back; her heart shriveled a little at his expression.

"In a manner of speaking, I suppose you could say she was." The demon looked at Kagome shrewdly, and the human tried to school her features into normalness, smiling and nodding. Shimoko raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. "Yes, she was _quite_ happythat that bastard was finally dead, and she always wanted to repay you somehow, oji-chan."

The diminutive term – meaning "uncle" but usually reserved for men middle-aged or older, certainly not appropriate in this context – got his attention immediately. "What was that?" he snapped, and Kagome coughed to cover a laugh. "You say something, wench?"

"Well, it would hardly be polite for me to call you by name, would it?" Shimoko raised her palms in a guileless shrug.

"I'd rather you call me that than pretend I'm some balding human fart!" the hanyou retorted.

"Let it go, Inuyasha." Kagome patted his arm soothingly again and smiled her gratitude at the older woman. He grumbled and folded his arms, staring sullenly to the side, while Sango pried Miroku's hand from where it'd crept during the vision and wondered at the silent exchange she'd thought she'd witnessed.

Shimoko gave the tiniest of nods. "Yes, Mother was actually created from Naraku, odd as that sounds. He had complete sway over her and her 'sister,' Kanna, whose mirror this was." She retrieved the velvet wrap and began to smooth the fabric, popping her knuckles yet again. "Above all else, my lady has always cherished her own freedom—as well she should, as she is the wind, and her element can stand to be caged least of all others. She is not given to excessive gratitude any more than Sesshoumaru, but she was nearly beside herself with frustration when the curse was placed and she saw no more of anyone here."

_Created? Weird... _Kagome filed that one for later. "So how'd she meet your dad? And when?"

"Can't say much for either of their taste," Inuyasha muttered, ignoring Kagome's sharp little jerk at his nearest lock. "Well, c'mon, he hated Naraku just as much as we did, and he went and took the bastard's daughter as a mate?"

"There were...other circumstances..." Shimoko tapped her lips absently. "I'll tell you the full story some other time, but suffice to say he and my mother actually get along quite well. They disagree sometimes, but they're much more fond of each other than he'd ever let on—you know him, oji-chan. He might have been worried at the damage Rin did to his reputation, but he wouldn't have taken Mother if he didn't really _want _to."

"Rin?" Kagome and Miroku repeated as one.

Shimoko grimaced. "Shit. He's going to kill me for this one..." She very carefully picked up the mirror by the edges and laid it in the velvet drape, wrapping the glass securely. To their surprise, she then offered it to Kagome, almost submissively. "My lady wishes you to borrow this."

"Wha...?" Kagome gingerly took it and set it in her lap. Inuyasha's hair tickled her arm as he leaned over, and she enjoyed its musky smell for a moment before returning to Shimoko. "Why me?"

"Dunno. I'm not supposed to tell you anything beyond the fact that she's grateful and why." The demon smiled, eyes flooded with amusement and surprising warmth. "And I'm certainly not supposed to tell you that you are now under her protection, and mine, for the duration of the curse, and if Sesshoumaru even breathes in your direction again, he'll have to run to the Arctic to find someplace safe to hide."

A lump welled in Kagome's throat. _How much does she even know about everything? _"Thank you so much, Shimoko-sama."

"Don't be so formal, Auntie. I like you, and I owe oji-chan my very existence." Kagome cracked a smile at the incongruous English word, and Shimoko's left eyelid flicked in a wink before her demeanor reverted to brisk coolness. "Now, Miroku and Sango, please leave us. These two are in no danger with me, and I'd like to speak with them alone."

"As you wish, Shimoko-sama," Sango replied, rising and holding out her arms for Kirara to jump into. The fire-cat had long since reverted to her smaller shape. "Thank you f—"

"Your kindness is far too much, Shimoko-sama." Miroku bowed deeply and shifted his staff to the crook of his arms, slipping back into his old habits too smoothly to catch three sets of warning glares or Shimoko's veiled amusement as he reached for her hand. "May I have the honor of inquiring whether you m—"

A light movement of Shimoko's hand plucked the monk off the ground, sending his staff clattering and his arms flapping instinctively for balance. "I have the honor of being able to tell you _now _that not only am I _not _interested, houshi, but I'm not available, even if I was. Which I am not." Forefingers twitched in unison, and Miroku rose about ten feet, eyes bulging as he suddenly flipped upside down and drifted towards the ground just above Shimoko's darkly amused eyes. "Understood?"

"Of course, Shimoko-sama, please forgive me," the monk said tightly, attempting to keep his robes from falling down _too _far. His cotton leggings protected his modesty, but they did nothing to change the fact that he was in a fairly compromising position.

Sango seemed torn between absolute disgust, worry, and the desire to roll on the ground laughing. Shimoko half-smiled and cocked her head to look around the monk at her. "Even by your own standards, this kind of blatant behavior cannot be acceptable. Do you always let your mate get away with this?"

"Rarely, Shimoko-sama, but you seem to have spared me the trouble this time," Sango answered politely, taking her time to help Miroku up as gravity reclaimed him with a resounding thud. "I only wish I had your power."

"I lack my mother's faculty with wind and many of Sesshoumaru's more unique talents, but I do possess my own skills," Shimoko said cryptically, holding out her hand and sweeping it down. Tetsusaiga dropped out of the sky to slam point-first into the grass, perilously close to Miroku's feet.

Inuyasha snatched it up, examining the blade suspiciously, and the demon woman chuckled slightly. "It's all right, oji-chan. I'm quite proficient in moving objects and people over distances, and I haven't made any major mistakes for 63 years now."

"Good for you." Inuyasha slammed the sword back into the sheath, only slightly mollified by its safe return and Miroku's calisthenics.

A sudden hunch neatly swept Kagome's questions about Sesshoumaru, Naraku and some other fairly important stuff out of the forefront of her mind; she barely waited for the couple to leave earshot before nearly pouncing on Shimoko. "How'd you know they're...well, together? They weren't when your mother knew about them."

"Ah, yes, that." Shimoko shrugged and sat with her knees crossed Indian style. "I'm not a dog demon, but one _has _inherited certain characteristics, and discerning that kind of thing by scent would be impossible _not _to do."

_Knew it! Score! _"So you'd know if someone was...or had been, well, with a guy, or not?"

Shimoko raised both eyebrows at Inuyasha's sudden interest and Kagome's determination. "Within reason. Human scents fade quickly, but demon and half-demon scents stay within the body for days, weeks or longer, depending on the quality, quantity, and durations involved. Why?"

Inuyasha's eye twitched. Kagome noted his discomfort and deliberately switched to English to torment him further. "He thinks I slept with Kouga. I didn't. Mind telling him so?"

"We'll see. Now hold still, please," Shimoko replied fluently, eyebrow arching.

His indignant questions about what had been said sputtered and died as his niece suddenly leaned over and began a discreet but careful olfactory inspection of Kagome, starting at the neck, unashamedly checking her torso before moving down, nose less than a foot away from the most important parts in question. She took a final whiff and straightened, cracking her knuckles.

"What the..." Inuyasha tamped down jealousy, confusion, and strong but _very _unhealthy interest. "What the hell just happened?"

"Is that a trick question, oji-chan?" Shimoko drawled as Kagome folded her arms. "She said her honor has been called into question and requested I settle the matter." The demon scowled at him. "Your nose must be sharp enough to discern these things yourself. Really, where did you get such a ridiculous idea? The girl hasn't been touched there by anything except her own body's functions, and if the wolf had had anything to do with her, I'd be able to tell for _months_."

"Oh?" was all he said, though he was nearly lightheaded with a bizarre mix of relief and guilt, and still trying to shake the mental image of Kagome being sniffed over so personally.

"Don't 'oh' me, oji-chan. The strongest male scent on her is yours, and not anywhere that counts." She crossed her arms, tapping her fingers languidly. "Really, she's been here for six weeks now, and you haven't even made any advances? You _do _like females, don't you?"

Inuyasha's face turned an interesting shade of fuchsia. "Who said I haven't made any—I mean...it wasn't like I wanted—I mean, didn't—I mean...I tried, but I didn't mean to...uh..."

Shimoko waited, very patiently, for him to trail off lamely and fall silent. "...So you couldn't finish what you'd started, then? That's hardly an excuse for her _complete _lack of scent. Besides, there are certain medications available now I could procure if you really—"

"It's _fine_, Shimoko-sama." Kagome tried to speak firmly, but it came out more like a broken-toy squeak. Inuyasha gave her a puzzled look, which she chose to ignore. _I am _not _telling him what she means if he was never taught that much about it! He can ask Miroku! _"That's not what he meant. We're just friends."

"You rejected him? No wonder he's so sexually frustrated," the demon chided Kagome, whose embarrassment degenerated further into red-faced, head-shaking ," Inuyasha managed, claws sinking slowly into the earth as some of her less overt meanings began to do the same to his mind. "Stay the fuck out of our business."

"I hardly think it's your business alone when so much is at stake." Shimoko's eyebrows wriggled ever so slightly at Kagome. "Is it?"

"I dunno," Kagome said faintly, praying the older woman wouldn't call _her _out on...that, as well.

"Hmm" was all Shimoko said before rising and half-bowing with exquisite grace. "I have most thoroughly enjoyed this visit, but I must get going and explain why I smell like my oji-chan before Sesshoumaru gets the wrong idea. I'll return as soon as I can, though."

"Thank you for coming, and for the mirror," Kagome said as steadily as she could, mind still not quite working at full capacity but determined not to be rude. "Tell your mother we'll take the best care of it that we can."

"Good. I'll demonstrate how one uses it in full next time. Till then, don't touch the glass." Shimoko bowed again, turning her head to appraise Inuyasha without unbending. "Oji-chan?"

"What?" he grunted, face still distinctly red-tinged.

"A word of advice, from one who's lived long enough to know these things—memories are lovely, but if you keep looking back, eventually you'll fall on your ass, and whoever might've been there to help you up will be long gone ahead."

Inuyasha snarled and leaped to his feet, glaring at the spot from which Shimoko had just vanished. "Dammit! What the hell was that supposed to mean?! Get back here!"

Kagome let out a long sigh and stroked the mirror's velvet cover. "She doesn't hold back much, does she?"

"Lousy, nosy, snobby bitch." Inuyasha's ears were laid back nearly flat against his hair in angry defense, belying the way he snorted and folded his hands into his sleeves. "Like I even care what something half Fluffy and half Naraku says."

Kagome's hands tightened on the velvet. "I kind of liked her, actually."

"Yeah, you would." Inuyasha covered a flinch as hurt and anger pricked his nostrils. _Shit, that did come out the wrong way. _"I mean—"

"You _mean _that she made you look like an idiot, dug up a lot of memories, proved you wrong and hit a couple of nerves on the way out, except you'd rather give your brother a big hug than admit it!"

It was Kagome's turn to regret speaking on impulse; Inuyasha rounded on her, slamming his palms down on either side of her legs. "Would you _mind_ not throwing all this shit in my face at once?! I know you have this weird ability to piss me off instantly, but you don't have to kick me when I'm down, bitch!"

"I'm sorry," she murmured, reaching out to stroke his ears. He pulled back just enough to evade it, and Kagome let her hand drop, stung. "Look, I said I'm sorry. I just don't think she knew how much seeing that again would affect you, and the other stuff...well, she was just teasing. It's a lot more common nowadays—it's actually a sign you're comfortable with someone. Most of the time, anyway. And I didn't mean—"

"Just shut up." Inuyasha didn't dare look up at her. "I...I just don't want to talk about it. _At all_. Is that okay with you, or do we have to start yellin' again?"

Kagome was quiet.

"...Kagome?"

Kagome was still quiet.

"What? What'd I do now?"

No answer. Inuyasha raised his head just enough to test the air. Alarm warred with anger for dominance at the familiar tang of salt. "Oi! Stop that!"

"I'm _so _sorry." Kagome slammed the mirror onto the ground beside her, shoved herself to her feet and scooped the velvet folds up. "I'll go _not cry_ somewhere that doesn't accuse me of sleeping around and lying, then hides behind hurt feelings at something _else _and then gets mad at _me _for being quiet when I'm not in the mood to shout for once."

"Dammit, Kagome—"

"I know you're upset, and I know you're not comfortable with apologizing...but come _on_." She rubbed the velvet the wrong way, too absorbed in tactile recollection of Inuyasha's ears to hear him rising behind her. "It's probably not that important to you after the way you got to see everything in the mirror, and I understand, but I can't h—"

"You _understand _shit." Before Kagome could turn around and introduce the heavy mirror to the side of his face as impulse decreed, two red-draped arms circled her at the shoulders and waist, trapping her against his front. "I don't even understand myself. How the hell are you supposed to?"

"Inuyasha, let me go." She tried to move away, but her grip on the mirror prevented any use of her arms, and her legs had been quick to betray her and turn wobbly at the solid warmth on her back. "Inuyasha, I mean it."

With all his usual courtesy and obedience, the hanyou paused, then tugged her a little closer, till she could feel the light, quick beat of his heart against her shoulder. He rested his chin atop her head, mumbling so that his jaw pressed her scalp lightly. "I screwed up, 'n I'm sorry. That good enough?"

_Darn him. I was really getting into it, too...he must be getting smarter. _Most of her anger evaporated, and the will to move soon followed. "...Yeah. Accepted. Thanks." Kagome sighed and allowed herself to relax back against him, reveling in the feel of fabric, muscle and body heat. He'd probably pull away in a second, of course, but till he did, she was going to enjoy it.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was looking down at her in utter disbelief. _That's it? She's ready to kill me, and all I have to do is grab her and say I'm sorry? Gods, I'll never understand women..._

Women...

He grimaced, shaking his head slightly. There was that damned mental image again, of Kikyou right after the shot that had taken Naraku down...at a very primal level, he'd been furious at being deprived of the kill, then angry with her for putting herself in danger, as always, and so relieved that she was safe that it almost made him physically ill...

Kagome misinterpreted the gesture and straightened in order to step away once he released her, trying to turn after several seconds of no further reaction. "Inuyasha?"

And she'd stared at the spider's remnants, then glanced at him and nodded—once. That was all. Then she'd turned to talk to the guards, called Miroku over to help dispose of the ashes, told a human soldier to fetch herbs for the wounded...of course, she knew Inuyasha wasn't in any real danger and would heal much faster than the humans who'd suffered more serious wounds, but...

But he couldn't get very nostalgic about seeing that damned battle again when it reminded him acutely of something that had bothered him steadily ever since. He loved her, and of course he respected her dedication, but as Kagome had just said, come _on_...!

Inuyasha shook his head again, unaware that he'd tightened his hold again till Kagome made a questioning noise and he came out of his reverie. "Huh? You say something, wench?"

"Uh...nope." Kagome's arms were starting to ache. She twisted around a little more, trying to angle up to look him in the eye. "Are you okay?"

She yelped as his arms flattened her almost painfully to his front. _That'd be a no...! _She swallowed hard, feeling that and the slight vibration of her voice against his right forearm. "Inuyasha?"

How had she known what he was thinking? Was she trying to mock him, or was it some sick coincidence that he was imagining to punish himself for his own disloyalty?

"Inuyasha...?"

Speaking of which—why was he still holding onto living proof that his Kikyou was gone, and only an angry shade and a girl with her face were left to remind him of her?

And why couldn't he let go?

"Inuyasha..."

Why wasn't she trying to get loose? As he gradually came out of his reverie, it occurred to Inuyasha that he was probably almost suffocating the poor girl, and he relaxed somewhat. "Kagome?"

"Hmm?" She half-turned again, and he reflexively turned his head to rest it against her neck on the other side to avoid eye contact. He just couldn't take that right now.

Kagome caught the motion and half-accurately guessed the reason behind it. _It must be so painful looking at me and knowing I'm not her...but he doesn't have to rub my face in it. _"Inuyasha? What's wrong?"

He didn't respond—verbally, at least. Kagome suppressed several urges – to giggle, melt, try to free herself and go for his ears, and many more – at the definite sound and feel of him sniffing the sensitive flesh closely. _What the...? _She concentrated hard on worrying in order to keep _that _smell from popping up. _He can't be _that _brain-damaged just from apologizing..._

"...You don't mind?"

Whatever she'd been expecting, that was definitely towards the bottom of the list. "Huh? Mind what?"

"...Me. This. I dunno." Inuyasha let his eyes drift shut, ashamed of another half-forgotten complaint that'd suddenly come up to say hello: Kikyou had been fairly receptive to being held, but not for long periods, and she could never hide her unease when he got too close to her throat. A tiny complaint considering how happy and grateful she'd made him, but... "I keep grabbing you and sticking my nose in your neck without asking. If I were you, I'd hit me."

"You probably would." Kagome snorted. "Trust me, if I minded, I'd have said something already." She shifted the mirror around in her arms. "Like how my arms are about to drop off."

Inuyasha took it from her with his right arm, tossing it to the ground with a dull thud and wincing at her indignant protests. "It's _fine_, wench." He replaced his arm across her shoulders, resting his cheek on her hair. "That stuff you use in your hair smells weird."

"So does your face," Kagome mumbled, unaware of what she was saying even when he snorted slightly. _Why hasn't he let go yet? Not complaining, but..._

His mind just wouldn't sit still. Shimoko's parting shot would probably keep him up tonight, he knew, and her "teasing," as Kagome had so politely put it, had bugged the hell out of him. At least she hadn't seemed disgusted or threatened by it—hell, if she hadn't already tried to run away after the two times he'd almost slipped, a few words probably weren't much of a big deal.

Then again, he hadn't needed any special scents to start thinking of Kikyou that way—

"Hey, Inuyasha?"

But if he wasn't interested in Kagome now that she was back to normal, then he wouldn't be fighting the urge to start paying more detailed attention to her neck than a couple of deep whiffs, would he?

"Earth to Inuyasha."

_Damn! What the hell am I supposed to do?! _Dismiss all these weird feelings as some kind of sick substitute for Kikyou? He'd already tried that, and it didn't work. Give in and ruin her inexplicably half-decent opinion of him, one good enough to let her put up with his personality _and _not run away screaming when he touched her? _No way in hell. So wha—_

"Yoo-hoo?" Kagome gently pinched the back of his hand and finally roused him. "Are you sure you're okay?" _And should I smack you for treating me like a teddy bear while you think of Kikyou, or not? _Much as she hated it, there wasn't much other explanation that she could think of.

"M'fine." Regretfully, Inuyasha squeezed her waist and stepped back, allowing her to retrieve the mirror and unwrap it to check the glass anxiously. "You ready to go back?"

"Yeah, let's go." Kagome turned to smile at him, and the turmoil in his head increased exponentially. "You hungry?"

* * *

They stuck to safe topics that night at dinner, mostly discussing the treehouse and what needed to be done to finish it the next day; all that remained was to make sure everything was fitted together securely and the sutras were in place. Miroku was already at work making a charm for Shippou that would allow the kit into the hut safely so as not to leave him out, and he'd assured Inuyasha, half-seriously, that half-demons should have no trouble getting in, either, not to worry.

Kagome was rising to leave when Inuyasha's demeanor seemed to droop slightly, and she caught it just in time not to be surprised at his next words: "You're really sure you don't mind me grabbing you like that, just outta nowhere? If you do, I can—"

"Inuyasha. Looky here." She moved the table aside and crouched directly in front of him. "I've told you a million times, we're friends. If you're upset about something or you just feel like you need it, you have permission any time. I like knowing you trust me enough to even consider it, and it's sweet of you to ask." Holding her breath, Kagome reached up again, exhaling happily as he propped his head on one hand and half-closed his eyes. "Remember, not too long ago, I touched your hand and you acted like I threw acid on it."

"Did I?" Inuyasha mumbled, eyes drifting shut as she massaged his right ear's base, tracing the edges with her thumb. His foot twitched, and she mentally marked the spot she'd just found. "Wasn't used to anyone but Mom touching me 'cept when Fluffy hit me."

"Well, if I ever decide you're violating my personal space, I'll let you know. Till then..." Kagome set to work with the other hand and ear. His head drifted a little lower.

"Yeah, yeah." He suppressed a blissful sigh at the sensations her fingers were eliciting and brought his head up before he completely forgot himself. "So. Marry me?" For the first time he'd asked it, and against all logic, the question actually made him feel slightly guilty.

"Nuh-uh, I won't. G'night."

"Night, Kagome." Inuyasha watched her leave, then got up and went to his own room, mind chewing over everything slowly.

* * *

The treehouse was completed within the first hour of work the next day, and Kagome was given the right to try it first; Inuyasha checked that all of the things she'd requested were there before kicking at the rope ladder to unfurl it.

"Marvelous," Kagome said dryly, and scandalized most of those gathered by peeling the front of her kimono back to reveal legs clad only in shorts. "Pardon, everyone, but I can't climb in this thing." She tested the first few rungs, then deftly hauled herself up and stepped up into the doorway, eyes widening appreciatively. "Damn, this looks great!"

"Course it does, wench. We built it ourselves." Inuyasha rapped the sloped ceiling inches above their heads. Kagome smiled at his arrogance and walked around, poking her head out the two windows and running her hands over the perfectly smooth floorboards. The smell of new wood brought back a flood of fairly happy memories, and the dim lighting was perfect. Almost half the small floor space was covered by her unzipped sleeping bag, upon which she promptly plopped down and stretched out on her belly, sighing in utter content.

"Don't fall asleep, or I'm not waking you up when it rains." Inuyasha sank onto his heels next to her, raising an eyebrow and poking at the sleeping bag. "What is this thing?"

"It's kinda like a travel futon." Kagome yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "I love this place, Inuyasha. Thank you so much for helping everyone build it."

"Keh. It's just a stupid hut." Inuyasha got up and stalked to the south-facing window. "Wouldn't be surprised if...if..." He stuck his head further out, then swore and ducked back in. "She's back already?! I thought she was gone!"

"Shimoko?" Kagome followed Inuyasha to the door, climbing down as quickly as she could the moment he leapt to the ground. Sango and Miroku moved to the front of the little crowd, the latter gulping slightly and glancing around for the demon.

"Something amiss, Inuyasha-sama?" one of the men asked.

"Yeah, but it's not your problem. Take the rest of the day off and go fishing or something." Distracted by the servants' distinctly strange attitude, Inuyasha paused and sniffed at them. "What? Something else wrong?"

"Nothing at all, Inuyasha-sama. Thank you." The speaker bowed deeply, and his colleagues quickly followed suit before dispersing at Inuyasha's careless wave.

"What the...?" Inuyasha mumbled, mostly to himself.

"That was called 'respect,' Inuyasha. I think you're making some headway." Kagome tugged his hair and grinned. "C'mon, let's go say hi to Shimoko."

"No need." The women milling around behind the men started: Shimoko had appeared almost from nowhere, clad in a beautiful semiformal red-and-white patterned kimono and holding a small bundle in her arms. She favored the nearest servants with a raised eyebrow. "Go about your business. I merely wish to pay your lord and lady a visit."

"It's all right," Kagome assured them, and only then would the women scatter and pretend to go about their chores, collecting children and using the treehouse as an opportunity to keep an eye on the little knot of humans, demon and half-demon.

Kagome couldn't blame them for being curious, especially when Shimoko took the initiative. "Forgive me for returning so soon. I can't stay long, but my husband is coming back from a business trip tomorrow and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to introduce you to my daughter." She smiled as they leaned in closer, then carefully unfolded a loose flap of fleecy material covering an infant's head. "This is Tadako."

"Weird name." Kagome mashed Inuyasha's foot with her heel, and he shrugged, unperturbed. "Well, it is."

"Shut up, Inuyasha," Kagome, Sango and Miroku replied as one. Shimoko chuckled.

"Wait a sec..." Inuyasha drew closer to the baby's tousled, duck-fuzzy black head. "...That can't be yours. She's human. _All _human."

The humor abruptly faded from Shimoko's expression. "So your nose does work, oji-chan. Technically, she's my stepdaughter, and my husband has no demon blood, either."

"Really?" Kagome leaned in closer. "How old is she?"

"Fifteen months and three weeks." Shimoko nearly beamed at her. "Would you like to hold her?"

"Oh, yes!" Kagome deftly took the baby and shifted her so that Sango could lean over and get a better look as well. "Oooooh, she's adorable!"

"Why, thank you." Still smiling, Shimoko glanced wryly at Inuyasha. "Go ahead and ask, oji-chan, before you explode."

"Fluffy let you marry a _human_?" The words nearly flew out of his mouth. "What the hell did you put in his drink to get him to agree to that?!"

"Never underestimate the power of a strong will, the fact that you're your parents' only surviving child, and _lots _of whining and screaming." Shimoko hesitated, only continuing when the baby ceased wriggling and settled back to sleep. "Of course, there were other factors, but I don't have time now to explain them all. Soon, perhaps, but not now."

Kagome reined in her curiosity, sensing that more questions at this point would only alienate the demon. "Would you like to hold her, Sango-chan?"

"With respect, Auntie, I'd prefer it if she weren't moved more than necessary," Shimoko cut in as Sango opened her mouth. "No offense intended, slayer."

"None taken." Truth be told, Sango was more relieved than miffed. Kagome decided to be merciful and ask about it later.

"Sorry, Shimoko-san..." Kagome caught Inuyasha looking at the baby with mixed curiosity and thoughtfulness, noted that Sango had also seen it, and smiled inwardly. _Mwa ha ha ha ha... _"Would it be all right if her great-uncle held her?"

"By all means," Shimoko replied after a slight pause, popping her knuckles again.

Miroku had a sudden, violent coughing fit at Inuyasha's expression. Shimoko's mouth also twitched. "Do be careful with her, oji-chan."

"Wh...wait a minute, who said I—"

"Shush, or you'll wake her up." Kagome rose and laid the little bundle against his chest. His arms came up to push her away, but instead she positioned them and then his hands to support the baby's head and back gently, withdrawing her own hands to force him to hold the slight weight up himself.

"What the..." Inuyasha gulped as the infant's face screwed up into an enormous yawn. He looked up at Kagome in panic. "What's it doing?"

"Yawning. Be quiet and let her sleep." Kagome sucked in her cheeks hard to keep from laughing at his utter cluelessness. "See, you're doing fine."

"If you say so..." Taking utmost care to keep his claws arched away from paper-fine skin, Inuyasha held his breath, lifted the baby closer and sniffed at her cautiously. "She's not yours, but she smells a lot like you already."

"Thank you," the demon said with quiet pride, popping her knuckles and tilting her head. "You've never held a baby before, have you?"

"Why would I?" Inuyasha scowled at her, head snapping back down in renewed panic as the baby stirred again, squirming slightly. "What's it doing now?"

"_She _is just moving in her sleep, Inuyasha." Kagome reached over and tucked the material around the tiny body more securely. "Just keep holding still. You're doing great."

"Like there's any skill involved." Inuyasha glanced at her, then, embarrassed and a little too stirred by vague feelings of something he really didn't want to think about, frowned down at the warm, slightly sweet-smelling bundle. "Do all human brats sleep this much?"

"All babies sleep a lot, and if you call my daughter that again, I'll tie your hair into fifteen kinds of knots," Shimoko answered calmly.

"Right..." The hanyou shifted the baby again, unnerved by how fragile the tiny thing was. What if he dropped her or something? Kagome would kill him, and then she'd never speak to him again, and his niece would probably decide to drop _him_—from a height of five thousand feet or so. His disquiet increased with the infant's stirring.

"Rock her a little," Kagome advised, breathing a sigh of relief with the rest of them when Inuyasha's awkward movements persuaded Tadako back into slumber.

"Have you had experience with babies, Auntie?" Shimoko asked blandly. "I noticed you had been holding at least two different ones yesterday."

"A little." Kagome gave her a look that said she caught her meaning very well, and No. "I was just playing with some of the servants' kids."

"Pity. And you, Sango-sama?"

"None, Shimoko-sama," the slayer replied honestly. Miroku eyed her and seemed ready to say something, but visibly changed his mind.

"Pity. Well, things change, especially things to do with motherhood." The demon sighed and got to her feet. "I must return now. If you would, oji-chan..."

"Huh?" Inuyasha glanced up. "Uh...right. Here." He got to his feet with exaggerated care, handing the infant over as if she were a live explosive and nearly leaping back into his place once the transfer was safely over.

"Now, that wasn't so terrible, was it?"

"Keh." Inuyasha folded his hands into his sleeves, unable to hide a severe case of tomato-face. "I've had—"

"Yes, I know," Shimoko crooned, and Inuyasha's head jerked up: she was talking to the baby. "But we'll stay longer next time, and no more grumpy oji-chan till then. Okay?"

A gurgle of complaint ended on a whimper, culminating in a wail that had Inuyasha clamping his hands over his ears. "What's wrong with it _now_?" he yelled above the sound.

"She's hungry, silly. I'll take her home and feed her." Shimoko tenderly wrapped the infant up tighter and bowed. "Until we meet again..." And they were both gone.

* * *

"Don't even try that. It was _beyond_ cute." Kagome scooped more noodles out of her cup without spilling on the sleeping bag. "Man, I wish I'd had a camera."

"Shut up, wench. It's your fault I got stuck with it in the first place." Inuyasha drained his cup and leaned over to play with a flashlight she'd found in her bag. The wind was cool enough outside to justify tying the door and one of the window flaps down, and Kagome spared a second to wonder if Sango and Miroku would take advantage of their absence to use one of their rooms.

"Yeah, you keep complaining, and I'll still think it's cute." Kagome tugged his hair.

"Feh." Inuyasha sprawled on his side, head propped up on one hand on the edge of the sleeping bag. "Still can't believe they're that much of a pain. You have to hold 'em all the time, feed 'em every couple of hours, can't touch 'em the wrong way or they get hurt..."

"That's not what you looked like you were thinking at the time." Kagome tweaked one of his ears, just to feel it flick against her fingers. "Haven't you ever thought you'd like kids?"

"...Not really. Never really thought about it." Inuyasha rolled closer so she could start on his ears yet again. He knew he should probably put a stop to her fixation, but...well, even considering how he could feel every stroke down to the soles of his feet and back, and it felt _nice_, his brain wasn't really working that well. Something about that baby's scent had triggered something waaaay in the back of his mind, which was still trying to figure out what it was without really having to acknowledge that anything had happened. Thus far, it was not working. "How 'bout you? You always seemed to—"

Kagome didn't realize one thumb had slid across the tip of his right ear and trailed down the inside for the first time – she'd always been careful to keep out of there for fear she might go too far or something – till his whole body jerked and her hand was forcibly removed, wrist circled by two shaking fingers. "Don't _ever _do that again," he hissed, shaking his head to clear it. "If you're gonna play touchy-feely, don't do it in there! Got it?!"

"Okay," she said faintly, shrinking back at the way he pawed at his ear, unaware that he still had her hand captive. "Did I...I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Don't be stupid." Hurt? Did she really think that something like that would _hurt_ him? _Stupid wench has no idea...! _"It's just...that part's more sensitive than the back, okay? Keep the hell out of there."

"More sensitive?" she repeated blankly. "Like h...oh." _Oops. Crap. _"Um...sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"What the hell are you apologizing for?" Inuyasha rubbed his ear harder, but the effects of the jolt that'd gone down his spine and centered in his middle weren't going away. He swallowed hard at her embarrassment: bad enough she caught him like that, but she'd already figured it out, too. "Quit lookin' at me like that. You think I'm gonna jump on you or something?"

Kagome's leg twitched before she could stop herself from recollecting the dream that'd started their latest fight. She chose her words carefully. "Well, no, of course not. I trust you, remember?"

Inuyasha's jaw fell slightly at her tone—alone it was pretty innocent, but coupled with her sudden scent change—

"Anyway, we'd probably better go inside now, right?" Kagome shook her wrist free and gathered up their trash, packing his carton inside hers. "Put out the light, would you?"

That was all the excuse he needed. Moments later the small covered lamps were extinguished, leaving Kagome to half-laughingly grope around in the dark for balance. "Not yet, you jerk! Turn it back—"

Time slowed to an underwater crawl: the cartons dropped to the floor, chopsticks clattering softly as hands found her hips, lifted her easily and set her down on what felt like Inuyasha's leg.

_Oh, God, not again...was it something in the ramen? _She bit her lip to keep in a near-hysterical giggle, adrenaline coursing at the loop of arms around her waist. _My heart can't take much more of this... _Kagome had no clue whether she even wanted anything to happen or not right now: much as she loved him, she did have her pride, and she did not like the idea of being a substitute or stunt double, plus he didn't know what he was doing— 

Her train of thought hit a brick wall at soft, warm pressure on her neck, and Kagome let her eyes close and her head loll to one side as the light, caressing strokes moved down near her shoulder, relaxing her all over. It wasn't till she felt breath curling across the now-wet skin that her brain woke up enough to announce that she was getting an impromptu bath.

Inuyasha growled low in his chest as she pulled away a little, scent blazing, voice shaky. "I-Inuyasha, th-this isn't...I..."

Another growl cut her off, and he gathered her up closer, murmuring into her ear, "Tell me to stop, or hit me, or think of something else before I lose it." It wasn't a challenge: his body was screaming at him to at least continue, if not finish what he'd started, but even the thought was enough to bring back Shimoko's mocking words—_all _of them. _Damn that arrogant bitch, thinking I'd ever do that to her! _Bad enough that he'd lost it yet again, even worse this time...if Kagome didn't start discouraging him _very _quickly, he was going to dishonor her, himself, _and_ Kikyou's memory, and he didn't know what was worst.

Feeling another tremor run through the slight body against his, though, he suddenly thought he did. "Kagome..."

She tried to breathe deeply, failed, and had more success a second time. The self-loathing in his voice was heartbreaking, even more so than the longing hurt she'd recognized right after the scene in the mirror—he'd looked at _her _that way back when he first thought she was...

"Inuyasha." He started a little. "Who are you thinking of right now?"

His brows drew together, and she could hear his bewilderment. "What? What do you mean?"

"It's a simple question. Lemme rephrase—why do you hate yourself so much for this? I could understand if I was resisting, maybe, but you keep stopping yourself. Why?"

"What do you mean, _why_?!" Inuyasha nearly shook her, hands tightening painfully on her shoulders in the dark. "D'you really think I'd just throw myself on you when I feel like it and then forget about it?! That I'm some callous prick like the bouzu, using one woman in place of ano—"

"That's not what I meant!" Ashamed of her own suspicions, Kagome tried to free her left shoulder, which was pressed a little too closely against his claws for her peace of mind. "Most men in your time didn't think anything of sleeping around a little with unattached women—remember what you said about mistresses? I know you still love her, but just reacting to other girls doesn't make you—"

"What the fuck do you know about it?" Inuyasha scowled as she cried out and wriggled more vigorously to loosen her shoulders. "Don't try to turn me into a freak because I haven't defiled every woman in the castle already!"

"You're not like that," Kagome whispered, trembling harder at the pressure on her back. "I don't care if you're a half-breed, you don't automatically turn everything you touch to filth! Quit acting like you—"

"What do _you _know?!" Inuyasha couldn't believe what she was trying to tell him. Did she _want _him to start acting like Miroku? Or was everyone from her time really just that sick when it came to things like this? He opened his mouth to ask as much, but a low whimper shunted his rage back into a corner. "Kagome? What's the matter?"

"Could you please let go of me for a second?" she asked plaintively, and when he snatched his hands back, his senses recoiled; almost faint with horror, he sniffed at his claws, and sure enough, the tips were covered in blood.

"_Fuck_! What did I do?!" Inuyasha was stuck between hugging her to apologize, shoving her away to keep her safe from him, and picking up where he'd left off—no real reason for that one beyond his body's selfish insistence, and he pushed it back down. "Shit...!"

"It's okay, Inuyasha, you barely even—"

"It's _not _okay! Do you see now, Kagome?! _Everyone_ I care about winds up cursed, hurt, or dead! You're not any different! You're not..." His chest heaved. "You're not...any..."

Silence, broken by ragged, almost sobbing breaths. He waited, heart pounding, daring her to challenge him, praying she wouldn't, stomach turning as her blood's scent wafted up at him again.

Kagome shifted, a little closer to him, and said nothing. Sadness, and something calming that he vaguely knew from somewhere but couldn't place, mingled with her other scents, and his mouth went dry as her small hands curled at the back of his head. _What the...?_

He was almost disappointed, almost relieved when she merely pulled his face down to rest her forehead against his. "Get this through your head, and get it through _now_." Her voice was low, calm, barely shaking. "All the things that happened may have indirectly been your fault if you look hard enough, but you did not _make _any of this come true. You can think of yourself as dirt if you really want, but if you do, you're an idiot. If you care what I think at all, I'll have you know that I actually like you, and it _really _sucks to listen to you blame yourself for everything. Do you understand me, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha shook his head blindly, but his hands also came up, resting on hers uncertainly. His ears turned ever so slightly to catch the sound of her swallowing hard, and he wasn't ashamed to admit that he was hanging on her every word now.

"You were probably brought up to think you're...what's the word? An abomination? A freak? One of those?" His shoulders hunched. "Crap. All of it. Like I said, you can either believe me or not, but wanting someone or accidentally drawing _very little _blood is no reason to hate yourself, 'specially not when I don't. Hate yourself, that is. Or you. You know what I mean."

Kagome paused. _How am I supposed to end that? I've said pretty much everything..._ "That's pretty much it. I'm not all-knowing like...like some people, but...yeah. That was pretty much it."

"You got that right," he said quietly, almost too quietly for her to hear. "You really don't know anything."

"I know how to build a treehouse," she retorted. "And I know you're a good guy. So there."

"How the hell does a treehouse—" Inuyasha didn't bother with the rest. He shrugged limply. "Even if you're right – which you're not – what does it matter?"

_If he was any denser, he'd...! _Kagome was too bemused to think of a proper analogy. "If it doesn't to you, it still does to me," she said firmly. Then, before she lost her nerve, she leaned her head back, felt for his chin and used that as a guide to peck him on the cheek. "Come on, let's go in now."

"_Now_?" Hurt and disappointment colored the single word so deeply that she halted her efforts to scoot off his lap, looking up at his voice in renewed worry. Little did she know his eyes had adjusted to the dark long since, and he almost smiled at her uncertain expression. Almost. "You think you can say all that crap and then just leave it like that?"

"...Isn't that what we usually do?" Kagome squeaked, heart hammering at what she started to think he might be implying. "What...here?"

Inuyasha marveled inwardly: she really didn't think he was going to react to all that? He couldn't tell if she was putting him on or not. _One way to find out... _"Let me guess—the cheek thing is another thing _friends _do now?"

"Uh...yeah." _Please don't—_

Inuyasha compromised, rubbing his face against hers lightly on both sides, almost catlike, letting it rest for a moment as he whispered, "I still think you're wrong, wench, but for what crap it's worth, thanks."

Kagome really didn't mean what happened next. One second she was trying to calm herself down and enjoying the feel of his skin against hers; somehow her head turned with his, one of his fangs grazing her bottom lip. When he registered the contact, Inuyasha started to pull away, alarmed at his own sudden enthusiasm for the idea, whilst Kagome leaned up with him, 'encouraged' him to keep still by virtue of another double-fistful of his hair, and – despite the slight handicap of having no experience, no sight and two razor-sharp fangs in the way – somehow managed to plant her lips directly upon his.

_Oh, hell. _Inuyasha was rather proud of himself in retrospect, having formed two entire, coherent words before his eyes closed and instinct swiftly kicked in. Placing his own light but firm grip on the back of her head, Inuyasha pulled her away before her energy could result in injury to herself and kissed her more gently, growling when she made it plain that slow and easy was _not _the idea here. It half-occurred to him that he should say something to rein her in a little, but she took advantage of his hesitation to, well, take advantage and deepen the kiss, parting her lips and sweeping through his when he did the same.

For her part, Kagome _had _no coherent thoughts. If she'd tried, she probably would've contemplated the differences between watching two people slobber all over each other, say, on TV, or in an American mall, and actually sitting in the dark with someone she loved, no noise but heavy breathing and no other sensations but the alternating cool and hot air, feel of warm, slick muscle against hers in a much different fashion than the icky, messy, gross-tasting experience she'd imagined so many times, too absorbed in the moment to care when his teeth scraped her lips – no one ever mentioned that part – or the fact that she had a lot more room to maneuver than she would've thought by looking at his fangs...

By the time she had to break it off for air, too exhilarated to care that she was literally panting, Inuyasha had shifted her further onto his lap, and she was straddling his waist, leaning against his chest for balance.

_Oh, hell. _Inuyasha gritted his teeth, trying to remember exactly how they'd gotten into this. ...Did it even matter? _Oh, hell. _He could still feel his jaw trembling; he ran his tongue over his teeth, starting slightly. _The hell? _He tapped his lips, starting violently. _The **hell**?!_

Unaware of his dumbfoundment, Kagome sighed hugely and leaned in for another quick kiss, only to be stopped by his fingers. "Mmm?" She pulled back, disappointed. "Inuyasha?"

"What'd you do to my...?" Inuyasha clicked his nails against his fangs.

"Your what?" Kagome pulled his hand away and succeeded this time, hurt by his lack of response till she saw – felt – what he was talking about. "What happened to your fangs?! Is this the same thing that happens to your face?"

"I don't know!" Confusion, arousal and anger were rapidly going to his head. "What do you mean, same thing that happens to my face?"

"A couple times now, I touched your face, and it changed, your stripe went away and I think your eyes went a different color, so I was curious..."

Inuyasha's insides slowly cooled off, heat replaced with a chill like half-melted ice. _Curious? She was fucking **curious**?!_

Kagome was lifted off so swiftly and deposited on the floor so neatly that she failed to recognize what was happening till he was halfway to the door. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"Somewhere people won't stick their tongue in my mouth out of _curiosity_," he answered curtly, pausing to see the effect it had.

Her jaw dropped. "You think...I don't believe this! How stupidly insecure can you get?! I've never kissed _anyone _before, and I sure as hell wouldn't have tried it with _you _if I hadn't wanted to because you're _you_, not to see what would happen!"

Inuyasha folded his hands. "You sure about that?"

"I was fifteen the last time I had any contact with guys not related to me, and I didn't like anyone enough to, okay? We've been through this before." Kagome smoothed her hair back on both sides irritably. "If I _offended _you, I'm sorry for forcing it, but I would appreciate it if you'd try to be reasonable about it."

The hanyou hesitated, one foot dangling out the door. She could almost barely discern his outline. "Look, I'm sorry if you're mad. _Please_ don't make this any more humiliating than it already is."

_Well, when she puts it that way... _Feelings still hurt, but willing to see her point, Inuyasha sighed and stepped back in. "Don't worry about it, wench. I didn't exactly shove you off." His foot twitched a little in remembrance. "Let's just forget about it, okay?"

"Fine." Kagome laid down next to the wall and turned over. "I won't marry you. Good night."

He snorted. "What're you doing?"

"Is this a trick question?" Kagome snapped. "I'm going to sleep in here."

"Fine, then." To her utter befuddlement, Inuyasha dropped down next to her and arranged himself comfortably, sitting up. "Marry me?"

"I said no. Good _night_." Kagome closed her eyes firmly, pulling the sleeping bag over herself; now that things had cooled down, she was starting to feel the air's slight chill.

She thought that was that, but even as Inuyasha brooded over whether anyone was at fault – whether there was any fault in the first place – he smirked and mumbled one thing under his breath, so quiet she wasn't sure if she imagined it or not. "Are you _sure_ you'd never done that before?"

* * *

A/N: Mmmmmm. Angst.

Everyone who thought I was gonna fake y'all out again, please stay after class and make candy.

Everyone else, I apologize if this seems sloppy, but it took FOREVER to write, and I have to edit quickly and take Sis for her license test. Hope she has it by the time she reads this...! Toodles! (Yes, we get some explanation next chapter, no rush...)


	26. One Forward, Two Back

Disclaimer: Look! I drew Piggy! ...Oh, wait... (flips through notes) I mean, I don't own Inuyasha. Nor that very obscure reference.

A/N: I'm feelin' weird! Lemme at 'em! Though I do think a slight gruesomeness warning should be in effect, 'cause I just saw _The Grudge _a few days ago. Not the kind of inspiration you really need, kids... (glance over shoulder)

...And Tessira Aleyn, why on _Earth _would I mind being nominated for the IY Fanguild awards? You and Dori flatter me immensely. ; ) Seriously, you guys rock.

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 26**

As awkward as staying awake the whole night probably would have been for both of them, neither Kagome nor Inuyasha really would've regretted it had they known what kind of dreams would greet them when their minds finally allowed their bodies to relax enough for sleep.

Inuyasha's dreams usually either presented clear-cut misery or vague unhappiness, and this was no exception: he 'awoke' to find himself in the Tree's glade, with the stench of Kikyou's blood in his nostrils, on his hands, claws, chest, everywhere.... And the priestess, standing unaided near the trunk, looking down at her crimson-soaked and shredded garments, white kimono nearly the same shade as her red hakama—she extended her horrifically gashed arms to him without raising her head, letting her unbound hair slide down to partially cover them. His stomach twisted. "Ki..."

"Have you changed your mind?" The bloody figure did not move. Inuyasha half hoped, was half terrified that she would raise her head. Her supplicant posture but darkly toneless question sent ice snaking through his veins.

"Kikyou, I d—" Inuyasha choked on his protest as her face tilted upwards, very slowly, giving him a sickeningly unimpeded look at the contrast between the untouched, flawless left side and the red mass of ruined flesh that was the right.

"Have you changed your mind?" Kikyou's eyes, the right barely open, glittered with palpable menace. "Think of me."

Inuyasha's hands snapped up blindly, but the violence of the gesture woke him up, half-lunging at the predawn darkness. He tried to lower them, eyes going wide and breath panting more harshly as the image of the dead priestess burned in his mind, imprinting itself all the more deeply when he clenched his eyes shut. _Fuck. _He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyelids, but that damning look and the question wouldn't leave him. _Damn it..._

There was no way Kikyou could've already known what had happened last night; besides, he hadn't shared his decision, the one he knew the dream-Kikyou had meant, not with himself aloud, nor Miroku, Sango, or...Kagome.

No, it was only his mind toying with him, testing his resolution and ensuring he wouldn't renege on his own pledge to make it through the curse as best he could...then ask, if necessary _beg _Kikyou to use the Jewel to spare the rest of the castle in exchange for his own death, painfully self-inflicted if need be.

Inuyasha was not afraid of dying; the first night he'd been told just what was going to happen once the three months were up, he'd resolved to wait out the time as a kind of penance and then follow Kikyou into death without dragging everyone else down with him. But Kagome had come painfully close to making him start to contemplate the possibility of the only surefire way to ensure the castle citizenry's safety...

He had to smile, just a little, and very grimly, at the curse's exquisitely vicious subtlety. Being accepted, aside from his awareness of its impossibility, equated betraying the woman for whom he'd been willing, ready and eager to give up his very life – what did it matter if he became physically pathetic and short-lived compared to his hanyou self, so long as he was with her? – but whose death his indecision and petty temper had ultimately caused, however indirectly. _And Shimoko and her damn "Don't look back" crap advice can kiss my ass, for all I care..._

_Not _being accepted...well, his whole life had taught him that he was lucky enough to find people like Miroku and Sango, who were unusual enough themselves to not mind the stigma of associating with a half-demon and accept his company, without hoping to be accepted by a complete stranger who knew him only as a cursed, demonic-looking monster who wanted either to marry her or kill everyone around him. _That _he could deal with, he was pretty sure, but he wasn't quite at peace with the idea of going berserk and murdering everyone in cold blood.

Of course, he had a few slim hopes, aside from Kikyou taking mercy on the castle. Another reason he tolerated the wolf hanging around was the knowledge that, much as he despised the idea of him even touching Kagome, Kouga wasn't forced to do more than stay within the curse's boundaries till the three months were up; he and Inuyasha had confirmed right at the onset, through very careful questioning, that the wolf lord would be allowed to escape if he so chose in the small space of time between the three-month period officially coming to a close and Inuyasha's blood overtaking him. The implications had initially irritated the hanyou to no end – he knew the exception was being made largely to deprive him of the sure knowledge of being able to kill Kouga – but now Inuyasha could be sure there _was _a way for Kagome to escape at the very, very least. _No way the wimpy wolf's gonna leave her here for me to come after her, and if they're not here once everyone else is dead, well, that's that. _

Right on the heels of strong – if slightly morbid – relief, which he'd been studiously ignoring for weeks now, a twinge of utterly ridiculous jealousy nagged at him. _Can't believe I have to be happy that that damn flea-ridden..._wolf _gets to protect her from _me!

His ears flattened, and he tried to do the same to the slight rumble he could feel building in his chest. _What the hell...what am I getting so worked up about? As long as she'll be safe, it's none of my business. Just 'cause she all but jumped on me last..._

Big mistake. All _that _brought forward was unnervingly vivid recollection of taste, sound and smell that had him twitching all over. He would never be able to eat that flavor of beef ramen again without thinking of _her _instead.

Inuyasha grimaced at the lump under the sleeping bag to his right, willing his heart to slow down and his mind to focus on something else. _Dammit. What was she thinking?_

What had possessed her to lunge at him like that? Dark as it still was in the treehouse, she couldn't have mistaken him for someone else or something...especially not with the way he'd...neck...and...

_Shit. _Inuyasha shook his head irritably to clear it, with little success. _Just a fluke. That and all that shit about _liking_ me. She's too damn trusting for her own good... _He had had no clue her good nature would lead her quite that far, though, or else he would've been more careful to ignore her scent. Most human females seemed to smell like that from time to time anyway—why couldn't he stop making stupid assumptions that Kagome was any different and learn that it wasn't always a deliberate invitation?

One thing was for sure, though. He _had _to make it clear that even if kissing was just something friends did in this era, it was _not _okay for her to be that friendly with him whenever she felt like it—if it hadn't been for the odd business with his fangs distracting him, he wasn't sure when he would have been ready to stop. _Bad enough Kagome's stuck with me here...I can't just up and decide to spend the rest of my time taking advantage of her when I'm just waiting to die and be with Kikyou. _He winced at the very thought. _It wouldn't be right. And it'd be even more unfair to Kagome than all this shit already is._

Kagome stirred as Inuyasha awkwardly pulled the sleeping bag closer around her, then snuggled herself deeper and let out a disconsolate little sigh. Inuyasha's ears flicked uncertainly as a tiny thread of sorrow worked into her scent. _Did I do that?_

He had no way of knowing that, for once, he wasn't on her mind at all. She had started dreaming uneasily about going to an old, fancy Western restaurant with her family and eating a fish that cursed at her each time she chewed, so that her mouth was squeaking with shrill profanity in no time, when her father had looked at her expectantly. "Kagome?"

Kagome reflexively chewed once more and swallowed before speaking, producing a steady line of _"Bitch!" _(gulp) "Yes?"

Of course, it was a dream, so her family was unperturbed. "Are you going to decide any time soon?" Yoshio asked matter-of-factly.

Kagome's brows drew together. "What're you talking about, Dad?"

"Whether to tell us about your mom." The faces ringing her all smiled in eerie, uncharacteristic unison.

The knife and fork slipped from her shock-slack fingers. "About..._what_?!"

"You know," Souta chimed in on her left. "Mom."

"No, I _don't _know! What're you talking about?!" Kagome felt slightly lightheaded as her family merely smiled wider and drew closer. "Stop looking at me like that!"

"Is this guilt I see?"

Kagome whirled around and nearly whacked her jaw on her chair back. "K-Kikyou, what the hell are you doing—?!"

"This is a dream, girl, an expression of the soul's state of being. I'm more than familiar enough with this soul to see it when I so choose." The priestess smiled coldly at the vacant faces around the table. "You wish to unburden yourself about something, and, forgive me for leaping to conclusions, but one presumes that you also have some slight misgivings about...your mother?"

"Leave me alone." Kagome turned back to her plate, stabbing the fish and sawing another piece off despite a tiny cry of _"Get bent!"_

She could still feel Kikyou's eyes on the back of her head. "You've adopted Inuyasha's pleasant ways of avoiding conversation, then." The feeling increased, and she shrank down into her chair as her family leaned in closer, Kikyou's noiseless footsteps somehow sounding in her ears, coming to rest directly behind her. "You're hiding something. What is it?"

Kagome made no answer, except to stab the fish again for a shrill _"Go to hell!"_

"I see." Kikyou came around and knelt so that Kagome was looking slightly down at her; she suppressed a shudder at the cold brown gaze. "We'll see how long you can keep yourself hidden, then. Till next time..." She placed her hand, not on Kagome's shoulder, but just behind it, and Kagome yelped as the skin seemed to ignite under the icy grip, heat bursting from underneath the cold to envelop her whole body.

Inuyasha was debating whether he should just slip out while she was awake or not when the sleeping bag erupted with flailing limbs, strangled protests and the nerve-scraping scent of alarm.

"Oi!" He leapt back defensively, grabbing her arms as gently as he could, considering the way she was struggling. "OI! Wake your ass up, Kagome!"

"Let _go_!" Kagome tried to free her hands to clutch at her shoulder, but someone had turned out the lights, and now the fish wouldn't even let her move! "Let go, dammit!"

"Why? So you can hurt both of us? Oi! Wake up!" He transferred both wrists to one hand and used the other to shake her shoulder, mindful of his claws and infinitely greater strength. "Kagome! _Kagome_!"

The sound of her name gradually got her attention, and she slowly ceased her attempts to pull away, hesitating and then finally letting her arms go limp. In the soggy gray light drifting in through the open window, Kagome's eyes soon adjusted to pick out a very distinct white-topped silhouette. "Inuyasha...?" Heart still thundering, she swallowed and twisted around, as if she would be able to see her left shoulder throbbing. "Let go for a second..."

Disturbed by her odd tone, Inuyasha unthinkingly let her wrists slide free, and she promptly reached around to her left shoulder, hissing as her fingers brushed the skin of her upper back. "What did she _do_?!"

"What did who do?" Instantly forgetting most of his resolutions, Inuyasha picked her up by the waist, set her down so that her back was facing the window and the light, and tugged at her T-shirt collar. "Lemme see."

"NO!" Kagome skittered back on all fours as if he'd held out a cattle prod. "I mean...it's just a weird dream I had." She flapped one hand frantically, managing a smile that he guessed was supposed to reassure him—it looked more like she'd just eaten a chunk of wormy dirt and was trying to convince him it was pretty good.

"You're full of crap. And I've seen more skin on you than that, remember? It's not a big deal." Inuyasha scowled as she didn't move. "Come on, wench, I'm not in the mood for this. If you're hurt, just lemme see." A sudden thought set his ears half-folded back. "It's...not where I grabbed you last night, is it?"

"Oh, no!" She shook her head frantically. "No, I don't even feel those anymore."

Inuyasha glared at her. "How do I know you're not just trying to keep me from seeing how deep they are?"

_Is he trying to manipulate me? _Kagome glared right back. _No, the idiot's serious—I don't think he even knows _how _to manipulate anyone. _"Fine. You can see _one _side." Scooting forward, watching him with exaggerated caution, Kagome eased her right arm out of her sleeve, down and out of the shirt, flipping the material into a bunch on her shoulder to expose her back but keep her chest securely covered. _Thank God I wore a bra last night, didn't know I'd be sleeping out here..._

Ears still folded with apprehension, Inuyasha came around behind her and peered closely at the smooth, almost unblemished skin, dotted with four tiny red marks spaced in a loose semicircle. One was barely even noticeable, but the deepest was slightly swollen and red around the edges. "Dammit...see?" He tapped it without thinking, then flinched away.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. That didn't even hurt." Shifting her other, still-aching shoulder impatiently, Kagome twisted around to give him a sardonic look. "They're not going to be fatal, I promise. Can I put my shirt back on now?"

"You can't see 'em, wench, so be quiet." Inuyasha slid one knuckle under her bra strap to edge it aside for a closer look, and she jumped. "Hold still."

"Are you done yet?" This was all she needed after last night; he'd wanted to _forget about it, _hadn't he? Anger spurred her into nudging back with her elbow. "Hey."

Inuyasha grunted, absently stroking underneath the row of punctures, and she couldn't help shivering a little. "Get Sango to clean 'em for you later." He found himself leaning in closer and stopped cold when he realized he was about to start cleaning them himself. That plus the scent coming off the soft, warm flesh plus a casual glance at her neck made him reach up and yank her shirt down swiftly enough to scare both of them.

"So, am I going to live, or what?" Kagome tried not to melt back into him. _"Forget about it, forget about it, forget about it"..._

"Depends. Lemme see the other side."

"Oh, no you don't!" Kagome pulled her arm back into her sleeve and scooted away—or tried to. The arm that materialized around her waist neatly prevented that. "Inuyasha, let me go. _Please_."

Concern and curiosity warred with his better judgment; the latter enlisted the pleading note she ended on, but just as his hand was starting to relax, the opposing parties pointed out that Kagome still smelled and acted as though she was in pain, and he gave in without a second thought. "If it doesn't hurt, why aren't you moving it? And why do you smell scared?" He didn't need the slightly stronger light to catch her guarded expression. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Kagome. I just want to know whether I did it or not."

"You didn't," she said simply.

Inuyasha growled. "Then lemme see."

"That makes no sense!" Kagome tried to pull his arm off with her right hand, but she felt like a fly trying to pull a branch off an oak tree. _A big, dumb, fuzzy, insensitive...! _She gritted her teeth and swatted his hand away from her left shoulder. "If you're so worried, let me go see Kaede for it and you can ogle me later, you hypocritical pervert!"

"Hypocritical?" he snapped, but his hands were gentle as he eased her back. "How am I a hypocrite for getting freaked out by you waking up like you're getting attacked and then not letting me try to see what the hell is wrong?!"

"You..." Kagome swallowed the angry words she'd been ready to spit at him. How was she supposed to remind him what they'd...what _she'd _done last night and tell him to get his hands off now if he was just worried about her? _Not like he's attracted to me unless I start smelling like that again, so it's not the same thing, is it? _"Nothing. Just let go."

"No." Grimly determined and irritated at how much her sudden attitude shift bothered him, Inuyasha locked his other arm around her middle. "I can wait all day, Kagome..."

His ears disappeared into his hair at the string of words she snapped at him. He didn't need to hear that: rage was mixed heavily into her scent, stinging his nose till he thought his eyes were going to start watering. _What the...?!_

Kagome hadn't been so irritated in a long time. Of course, he had no clue that Sango had once noticed Kagome's shoulder, not long after she arrived, in the tub, and Kagome had said shortly that she didn't want to talk about it. Sango had naturally complied, and had gotten so used to it that she'd forgotten about it entirely. _Big stupid jerk...he's probably seen it and just doesn't remember it. _She knew she was just adding fuel to the fire by refusing, but after that dream and the priestess's remark, Inuyasha's cluelessness was just too much for her frayed nerves to handle.

"Look," she snarled after perhaps thirty seconds of taut silence, "I've got a weird scar on there, and I'm kind of _sensitive _about it, and if you see it, you're going to ask about it, and I'm going to make something up, you're going to smell me lying and bug me, and I'm going to try to claw your eyes out. Does this sound like fun to you, or are you gonna let me go?!"

Panting, Kagome tried to turn around and glare at him, but the pain in her shoulder flared again and she was forced to hunch over, clutching it and hissing through her teeth.

Through a haze of pain and frustration, Kagome barely heard Inuyasha's mumble. "Come one, wench, it's just a scar, not your...parts...or anything. Just lemme see it, okay? If you do, I promise not to say anything stupid. Deal?"

"That's impossible." Kagome shook her head, giving into the urge to smile. "You can't not say anything stupid unless you stay quiet, and if you stay quiet, I'll get paranoid about what you're thinking." She hesitated as the urge to just get this over with crept up and began prodding her. A very cruel little voice whispered that it didn't really matter what she showed him, after all, as he wasn't going to be able to tell anyone who knew her. _And why the hell would I care if he did? _Defiance straightened her spine and gave her enough confidence to nod and ease her left arm out of her sleeve. "Just think before you talk, okay?"

Inuyasha was expecting something pretty bad after all the hoopla – and especially after that damned dream, with...no, he wasn't going to think about it – and, had there been no fuss or preamble before Kagome finished adjusting her shirt so he could see the raised scar below her left shoulder, he might've been suitably impressed. As it was, he softly gave his trademark "Keh," then bit his lips and rethought his callousness as he became aware that she was trembling slightly. "Kagome? You cold or something?"

His hopes that she hadn't heard him were dashed when Kagome snorted, speaking almost as harshly as he usually did. "What does your nose tell you, dog-boy?"

He let that one slide and inhaled deeply next to the much lighter pinpricks he'd made last night, just under the thick, shiny, slightly discolored mark. It looked like a gash that hadn't healed quite right, almost two inches long and a little less than an inch wide. Inuyasha scowled. "What're you scared of? I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Shut up. I know that. I just don't like showing it to people, 'cause then they ask where I got it and I have to either make something up or tell them..." Her head whipped around as he gently traced one jagged edge. "Watch it...Inu...yasha?" Kagome's eyes widened, and she rotated the shoulder gingerly. "Whoa. What'd you do?"

"Do?" Inuyasha leaned away as she wriggled her left arm more vigorously. "I didn't do anything."

"Whatever. Well, it doesn't hurt anymore." Kagome sighed in utter relief and leaned back against him without thinking. "Satisfied?"

"Hold on..." He pushed her forward lightly and ran his thumb over the scar, nudging the intruding bra strap aside. "I thought I heard you bragging about your healers to Sango the other day. The old bat here could've fixed this up better any time. What were you saying about—"

"It got infected." Kagome made an irate noise. "It's not much of a story."

Somehow, Inuyasha doubted that, and perverse curiosity egged him on. "What were you saying before, about lying about it?"

Kagome froze, mind flitting over the pros and cons of telling Inuyasha a story of which not even Souta knew the full details. _He's been pretty good about not prying before...and he told me plenty of stuff, too, and...and I've never told anyone, and it's getting old keeping it super-secret. Watch, I bet it doesn't even faze him._

"If you really want to know..." She took his silence for acquiescence, snorted slightly and rested her hands on his arm. "I got it when I was eleven. Nabiki pushed me down the stairs."

"Nabiki? ...Oh, one of your sisters." Inuyasha scowled at the puckered flesh. _Don't tell me that's it. _"I'd have given her the same."

Kagome was quiet. She threaded her fingers through his and began tapping the razor-like claws absently, marveling at the control he must've had to exercise constantly to keep from accidentally cutting everything he encountered into shreds. _Really, a couple of pinpricks is nothing. Wish he could see that......now, how much more do I mention?_

"What is it, wench?" Her scent had sharpened into sadness. Inuyasha found he couldn't stop playing with the scar, trying to figure out where the ends began and her own skin gave way.

_Hmmmm...healthy storytelling, or pity party? _Kagome hesitated. From the way the big dope was messing with her scar, he couldn't be _that _turned off.

"If you're gonna say something, say it." Inuyasha smoothed the old gash down, bemused when it came right back up. He'd never scarred before, and seeing a badly healed wound up close was a perverse novelty.

"I...well, I was too small to get her back, and besides, the others were on her side." Kagome drew her fingertips absently down his palm, unaware of how intimate the tiny gesture felt to the hanyou, who had to bite his cheeks and concentrate sharply on what she was saying to distract himself. He almost regretted doing so when she swallowed and continued. "It probably got infected because I locked myself in the bathroom and Dad didn't notice till the next day."

"The next day?!" Inuyasha shook his head in sheer disbelief. "Your dad's a dumbass, but he couldn't have not noticed his youngest daughter was bleeding from a huge wound for...how long? Over a day?! And why didn't you go get help? Why didn't your brothers say anything?"

"I told you, they were on Nabiki's side. I was afraid to leave the bathroom, and Dad was on the phone most of the time." She was immensely sorry she'd brought it up now. _Whoever said confession is good for the soul must've lived in a tiny box his whole life. And I hope he suffocated!_

"What's a—"

"It's a device that lets you talk to people over long distances. He...he had a lot to do, and it's not his fault, okay? He still feels bad about it."

"Good. And what the hell was up with them trying to get you? I thought you weren't used to the idea of siblings hurting each other."

"I haven't thought about it in a long time, for _some _reason, and I don't think about it unless I have to. I usually don't have to, either." Kagome shook her head. "Is that good enough?"

"You're the one who started talking about it. Why were they after you?"

"Kagome?" Inuyasha pulled her back against him to try to get a look at her averted face. Her scent had subsided to muted hints of the anger and sadness she'd been broadcasting freely; she was obviously trying to get herself back under control. "Oi."

All he could see was her profile, and the slight, gentle half-smile twisted his heart in three places—and not just because he'd often seen the same expression on Kikyou's face countless times. _Not the same, not really...can't explain it... _She glanced at him. "It's funny. I know it wasn't my fault, but I can't blame them for blaming me. Does that make any sense?"

Blink. "...Kagome?" was all he could say, utterly lost.

She twisted around to pat his cheek very gently. "C'mon, let's go inside before Sango sends the whole castle out after us."

"Huh?" What kind of follow-up was _that_?! "Oi! Wait!" Inuyasha's mouth worked, fishlike, as she pulled her shirt down and slipped off his lap, into her shoes, and waved merrily from the ladder. "OI! That's not fair! Come back here!"

A snatch of unmistakably evil laughter drifted up at him, and he swore, leaping to his feet and bounding out after her.

* * *

To Kagome's sheepish amusement and Inuyasha's frustration, Sango actually _was _sitting right next to the main entrance, and collared them as soon as they crept in, more joking about sneaking in than serious—after all, who amongst the servants was actually going to wait up for them?

"Kagome-chan. Inuyasha." They froze and turned as one. The slayer looked awful: dark hair mussed, eyes bloodshot and shadowed, and evidently in the same clothes she'd worn yesterday. "I trust you have a suitable explanation for staying out all night, _again_?"

By the time Miroku wandered out of Kagome's room and caught sight of them, Sango was just winding down with, "..._ever _worry us like that again, I'll tie both of you to pillars and have Kirara watch you at night! Don't think I wouldn't, either! Where were you?! The same place you were last time you—"

"Sango, my dearest and most exquisite treasure, I do believe they've had enough." Miroku came up behind the slayer and literally swept her off her feet, bowing with a half-concealed yawn. "Morning, Inuyasha, Kagome-sama...I owe you nothing at the way you deprived me last night, as she _refused _to come to bed _at all_, but we should discuss it further after we've had sufficient rest." The monk paused, pretending not to notice the woman in his arms glowering at him till Kagome expected to see a hole burned into the side of his head. "One assumes, of course, that your absence means that you did _not_ get any r—"

Any hope of escaping the servants' notice vanished with the morning quiet at Inuyasha's reaction, and Kagome's ears did not recover until she had culled Sango away from the group and hurried her back into their room for a long, detailed explanation, which of course lead to Shippou's unwilling expulsion so they could indulge in some much-needed Girl Talk.

"You..." Sango was at a complete loss for words, and not just from exhaustion. "With his _teeth_? However did you manage that?!"

"Very carefully," Kagome said dryly, skirting the strange way his fangs had receded—from what she could see that morning, they were back to normal now. "I don't see what the big deal is. He's just as much a guy as Miroku is."

Sango gave her friend a very narrow look. "Kagome-chan. Don't tell me...you didn't move any further than that, did you?"

"No." Kagome didn't bother to hide her disappointment. "He accused me of just being curious and almost left. I was so embarrassed that I said I'd stay there, but then he changed his mind and stayed, too."

"Just being curious?" Sango repeated, frowning at the ceiling. Kagome had urged her to go to sleep, but she insisted upon hearing the story first, and Kagome was secretly glad of the opportunity to discuss it so soon. "You wouldn't do such a thing out of curiosity..."

"Of course not. I'm not so desperate for a guy that I'd go for him like that if I didn't..." Kagome shrugged as Sango's head shot up. "Well, you know what I mean."

Sango stared at her for so long that her neck began to ache, but she hardly noticed. "Kagome-chan...are you...in love with him?" She prayed her friend would roll her eyes, or laugh, or shake her head...nothing. "Kagome-chan?"

A quiet sniffle was all the answer she needed. "Oh, gods..." Sango rose from her futon and crouched next to the bed, letting Kagome sit up and lean into her shoulder. Guilt, despair, exasperation and disbelief tumbled through her freely, and she gave Kagome a little shake as the younger woman began to sniffle in earnest. "Gods, Kagome-chan, what were you _thinking_?"

"Same thing you were thinking when you fell for a guy with a curse," Kagome mumbled back, and Sango had to concede the point, even as she tried to think about the implications.

"Are you...will you accept him, whenever he asks next?" was the slayer's next question, and her heart fell further at the numb headshake. "But..."

"But what if we did and the curse got broken? We live in this place for the rest of our lives with no money, no education or records for anyone here, no way to deliver enough food for everyone, Kouga and Sesshoumaru breathing down our necks, my family sponging off us?" Kagome didn't mean to let everything go quite so sharply, but unlike in the treehouse, she couldn't seem to _stop_ unburdening herself now. "And Inuyasha gets stuck with a consolation prize: his _real_ love's face slapped on an annoying modern chick, for the rest of his life, however long that is with his brother after the land? I have _no _idea how any of this is going to work out, Sango-chan, and it's been eating me alive for God knows how long!"

"I'm so sorry, Kagome-chan..." Sango knew something had been bothering Kagome lately, but with all the fuss over Miroku, she'd just assumed that her friend would bring up anything important without having to be prompted. Her head drooped till it was almost resting on the mattress next to Kagome's. "Forgive me?"

"You haven't done anything, Sango-chan, and there's nothing for you to be sorry for." Kagome hugged her and lay back, drained by the outburst. "I try not to think about it, or the alternative. It's just not a fun situation either way."

"True." Sango stroked her hair, sighing quietly. "...About money, though..." Kagome raised her head. "If five hundred years have passed since we were last awake...well, nothing has been changed. Wouldn't a few of the sets of demon armor or older kimonos sell for a fair price?" She flushed at Kagome's blank look. "If it's a stupid idea, I apologize. I just thought—"

"Sango-chan, you're a genius!" Kagome almost tackled her, and Sango's exhaustion prevented her from breaking the fall entirely, so that they ended up in a laughing, tired heap on the floor. "I really should think about it more carefully, shouldn't I?" she said conversationally, climbing back onto the bed.

"Maybe you should, Kagome-chan." Sango didn't bother to cover a huge yawn as she slipped back into her futon. "But please tell me the next time you'll be out all night, or I really will tie you to a pillar."

"I know. Good...uh...morning, Sango-chan."

"Mmmmmm." The slayer was almost instantly asleep.

* * *

It began raining not long after they 'snuck' back in, and to Inuyasha's relieved irritation, the general word amongst the servants was that Kagome-sama had probably had to save him again, from what, no one knew or cared; somehow, to his amazement, it was even agreed that this was a good thing, as no one knew what would happen if he died before the curse ended conclusively, and besides, it was amusing that the great and terrible Inuyasha would have to rely on a human female for protection. _That _one pissed him off, and Miroku had to patiently explain that this was also to their benefit.

"As I've said, Inuyasha," the monk said slowly, pronouncing the words carefully, as one would to a none-too-bright child or pet, "it means they like and respect Kagome-sama. It's obvious to everyone with eyes – that is, all but you and perhaps Kouga – that Kagome-sama likes and almost even respects _you_. Also, the fact that you are not invincible creates a favorable impression, once they cease to gloat over it."

"Still pisses me off," Inuyasha grumbled, propping his chin up and watching the rain patter the roof tiles out his window.

"Lamentable, but hardly uncommon." Miroku got to his feet. "Would you care to eat with the ladies, or are you going to stay up here and exacerbate the weather?"

Inuyasha grunted, and the monk bowed himself out with a little shrug. If the hanyou wanted to stay grumpy, well, Miroku had always rather liked the rain. _I wonder if Sango would like to see the treehouse again...?_

Boredom without any company and curiosity as to how Kagome was doing dragged Inuyasha out of the room soon enough, though. As he descended the steps, he caught the broken rhythm of running on the bottom floor and scowled. _Damn brats need to learn some manners before I learn them for 'em. Or...yeah. _Besides, Kagome was probably still feeling down, and if the kids bugged her, she wasn't going to be much—

"Help!" The moment his feet left the bottom step, a pack of children came swarming at him, hard on the heels of a red-and-black blur that dodged behind him just in time to avoid—water?!

"What the hell?" The kids stopped dead, latecomers crashing into their quicker fellows, as Inuyasha raised a hand to swipe at his face. He glared up at the ceiling, failed to see any leaks, and glared at the children instead as they fell to their knees, postures slightly hampered by strange devices in their hands. "What the hell are those?"

"Water guns. See?" Kagome stepped out from behind him and held up a lumpy blue object like the ones the kids were holding. She aimed it away and pulled the trigger: he jumped slightly as water streamed out in a thready but strong line, then fell away. "We were bored, so I dug these up. We were having a water fight."

"The whole purpose of these is to get wet?" Inuyasha's nose wrinkled. He held out a hand. Kagome pressed the gun into it, directed his index finger to the trigger, and tried with little success not to snort as he sniffed it, turned it directly at his face, and almost squeezed the trigger. The children glanced up when he didn't speak further, just in time to see him catch himself. As they watched, he sniffed it again, letting it drift toward Kagome before suddenly firing.

"HEY!" Kagome belatedly held one hand up to block it and attempted to snatch the toy back with the other; Inuyasha easily held her off, eyeing the gun with more interest and squirting her again. "You—gimme that! I didn't say you could play, too!"

"Hmmmm..." Inuyasha raised the toy high above his head, and Kagome hopped for it in vain, hands just short of his. He quirked a smug eyebrow at her. "What if I don't wanna give it back? I think I'm starting to see the point."

The children gaped as one as Kagome crossed her arms, then suddenly stepped onto the staircase and made a valiant leap onto his shoulders, nearly wresting the water gun away. "Nuh-uh, wench," he grunted, twisting it away from her loose grip and switching hands, unfazed by her weight on his back. It was the work of moments to wait for her to lean over his right shoulder, then aim another shot at his back over the left, and she yipped indignantly, dropping to the floor with protests of gross unfairness, faking genuine pique till he bent close enough for her to grab the neglected toy and nail him right in the face.

The little altercation might've dragged on all afternoon if it hadn't been for the gun's minute capacity, and as Kagome caught her breath, it suddenly occurred to Inuyasha how they'd looked fighting over an empty child's plaything. He swiped at his face with his sleeve and gave the kids his best glare: their heads snapped back down towards the floor, but he had a feeling they weren't taking him _too _seriously. "If you're all done with your chores, go run around outside. You'll get wet quicker, plus you won't bug anyone." He smirked over his shoulder at Kagome. "Go dry off, wench." Most of the gun's water had ended up on her.

She stuck her tongue out and headed for her room, winking at the nearest little girl she passed on the way. Inuyasha caught the girl's eye as he waved a dismissal to the others. "You there, come here a second."

The knot of siblings and friends around her evaporated, leaving them alone in seconds. Gulping only a little and trying to remember what Kagome-sama had said about him not being likely to eat anyone despite what their mothers told them when they misbehaved, the child crept forward and bowed lower. Inuyasha hesitated, glancing around to make sure no one was watching, then grabbed the empty gun and crouched, holding it out. "Tell me, d'you know how to refill this thing?"

* * *

At Kagome's suggestion, they ate dinner in her room with Miroku, Sango and Shippou for a slight change of pace, and the talk soon turned to childhood stories. For all the unhappiness Inuyasha had thought her life had held, Kagome had a surprising store of anecdotes to tell, seemingly few of them anywhere as morbid as the one she'd so infuriatingly left off that morning; no one minded when she monopolized the conversation, encouraged by their reactions.

"I don't know if you can imagine this," she said once they were done eating, all full and lounging around, sipping tea or sake. "But there he was, six years old, in his little soccer uniform—even children who play sports in groups all wear uniforms. He was completely in his own little world..." Kagome was already grinning despite herself. "He just kind of stood there by himself on the edge of the field while all the other kids were trying to kick the ball around, and for some reason..." She started giggling. "The little weirdo starts making these _really _loud noises, points to some flowers, and screams, '_Fire_!'"

"Fire?" Sango and Shippou repeated as one.

"Yep. With over fifty other people watching and absolutely _nothing _wrong with the flowers or with him besides an overactive imagination, Souta decides that the plants are all on fire, so he starts hopping around in circles and screaming his lungs out." Kagome buried her face in her hands at the memory. "Dad had to grab him off the field, drag him back to the car kicking and screaming, and ask him what was wrong. And Souta just looked at him, then picked his nose, held it up and said, 'Look, Daddy, fire!'"

Discussion of the relative intelligence – or existence thereof – of small children and adults followed as soon as they were able to speak normally again, and Inuyasha was rather neatly diverted once more from asking about the story she'd started in the treehouse. In fact, it was several days before he was able to bring it up again, and by the morning Kouga strolled back in unannounced, it was only one of several issues he found vying for his attention.

A short but rousing argument the second Kagome declared their usual English lesson over for today sent her stomping back to her room and him out to glare at the forest, vaguely aware of a strange tightness in his skin but too irate to pay much heed. _Stupid wench thinks she can spend all the time she wants with that stinking wolf and then tell me _I'm _the one who's getting touchy? _He shifted restlessly. _Is it just me, or is she avoiding me? _

For once, he was correct on that score. Kagome deliberately left the room before Sango could return and went up to the second floor, wandering around the great, empty chambers. _Stupid Inuyasha. _She doubted the hanyou even remembered that night in the treehouse anymore; if anything, he'd seemed offended when _she_ remembered and took any evident care not to touch him, and had no clue that that might be why she was reluctant to keep up the alphabet lessons. _Might as well just give up the no-touchy thing. If _he _doesn't want me to and _I _don't want to...but what if..._

"Good morning."

"I'm not in the mood, Kikyou." Kagome didn't look at the priestess, though she could easily sense that she was behind her and to her right.

"So upset from such a small thing?" She mentally tracked Kikyou's silent approach, determined to keep her apprehension buried. "Has Inuyasha lost his novelty to you already?"

"I _said _I'm not in the mood for this, Kikyou. And he's not a novelty, and you know it." Kagome forced herself to keep her eyes on a well-stocked weapon display.

"Oh?" There was that beat of drawn-out emphasis again. "He fails even to amuse you anymore, then? You're quite easily diverted."

Spite rose and weakened her resolve for the briefest of moments. "What are you getting at? If you're trying to trap me—"

"Into what? Confession? But _that _would imply wrongdoing." Kikyou glided closer.

Kagome thought desperately, mind settling on what seemed like a reasonable question—and maybe one that might throw the priestess off. "Tell me, Kikyou, why does Inuyasha's face change?"

The priestess stopped. Kagome detected the barest edge of caution in her neutral reply. "Does it change?"

"I think you know why, and not just his stripes. And I think I'd like to kn—"

Fury rose behind her, strongly but swiftly hidden and buried under the calm façade. Kagome realized, far too late, her glaring mistake: _if she knows why it changes, then she probably knows _when _it changes, such as him being kissed..._

Kikyou spoke tightly, slowly and calmly enough to give Kagome a chance to catch her breath. "Supposing I knew _why_, girl, why would I suppose you would have had a chance to discover the change—say, to his fangs?"

_She _does _know, then. _Well, no point beating the bush around now; coming from Kikyou, that was the equivalent of _'Fess up and quit wasting my time, dammit._ Kagome swallowed hard, battling down renewed embarrassment and guilt. "Maybe because they went away when I k...um...kissed him?"

Speaking as quickly as possible did not have the desired effect: Kagome nearly choked at the priestess's barely-controlled reaction. "Look, Kikyou, it was just an impulse I had! It wasn't like _he_ came after _me_! Calm down!"

"You ignorant, self-centered child." Kikyou would have been clenching her teeth had she been alive to do so. As it was, the words were almost hissed. "Have you even tried to apply your feeble powers of deduction to your situation? Or shall I tell you _directly _that the fact that he even permitted you close enough to try is an insult to everyone concerned, much less his tolerance of your familiarity _and_ his fangs receding?!"

Kagome had to swallow twice before she could speak, and only confusion and curiosity kept her at it against her survival instincts. "So what's it mean that they..."

"That he permitted it! Did you truly think a mere half-blood demon would have fangs that size? Or did you not realize the curse binds him more ways than one, and it was specifically made so that no woman in her right mind would even think of attempting what you so casually did on _impulse_? Even the wolf lord and the fox child knew that!"

Gulp. "So...they're not real?"

"They are his, girl. Don't be any more foolish than you already have been." Kikyou was 'pacing' and making Kagome very, very nervous. "But your attempts to take all the blame are pointless, because if he had _not _accepted your 'impulse,' you would have felt nothing more than what you usually see at his lips." She chuckled humorlessly. "I suppose he must have been as confused as you when he discovered what had started to happen. I don't believe it was deemed necessary for him to know about it."

"So it only happened because...?" _Because he liked it? _Kagome's face burned. _Oh. But... _"Why? If he's not supposed to be able to kiss anyone, why bother doing the fang thing? And if that's not normal, wh—"

"You should know as well as anyone that the rules of the curse make little sense. I would only surmise that it was added as an afterthought, perhaps to let someone or something know if Inuyasha grew too serious in his courtship." She felt Kikyou shrug. "It matters little. I will speak to Inuyasha about it soon enough."

"No! Leave him alone!" Kagome whirled around, shaking her head frantically at the empty room. "Don't pull this crap on me _now_!"

Naturally, there was no answer. Kagome heaved a long sigh and headed downstairs, wondering if there was anything to be done for damage control. _It's not even lunchtime yet. Damn, this is gonna be a long day..._

* * *

A/N: Ugh. Feel very very not-good...suspect bug acquired from paternal-type person. (Thanks, Dad.) And I keep noticing that ff dot net likes to hack out tiny chunks of sentence here and there...I'm too anal about grammar and punctuation not to have noticed, but I'm also too lazy to try reuploading entire chapters for the sake of one newly created run-on sentence. (It always happens at key parts, too...) Another chapter up as soon as my head turns right-side up again, I promise...hopefully more coherent. Too out of it to tell if this made any sense or not... 


	27. A Different Tune

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and am making no money off this. Go (getarealjob), me.

A/N: Random fact for the day: Spell Check thinks Inuyasha's name should be Natasha. Computers are silly. Why I don't hit Add and stop reminding myself of this, I really dunno. Either way, I feel better now, so let's get to it, shall we?

Oh, and pre-emptive disclaimer: not only do I not own any copyrighted material I could possibly be about to mention, but I also owe animelyrics dot com quite a bit...not in money, though, 'cause I'm not making any. It's just a cool site in general. And stuff. I'm starting the chapter now.

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 27**

Inuyasha was not in his room; nor was Miroku. Kagome wouldn't have minded this quite as much had Inuyasha been anywhere else in the castle or on the immediate grounds, or if she had been able to find anything out once she finally collared the monk coming back from an inspection of the forest, but...

"Is something wrong, Kagome-sama?" Miroku paused in the middle of wiping his face with a small towel Sango had thought to bring down to the small entrance area. It was drizzling out, just hard enough to annoy rather than soak.

"Ah...yeah, kind of. Nothing really dangerous. I just wanted to warn him about...something." Kagome scowled and tapped her foot irritably, not bothering to conceal her worry. _If he's just sitting up on the pavilion and sulking, so help me—_

"What're you just standing there for? Move, dammit." Inuyasha shoved past Miroku, stepping up onto the floor without bothering to dry his feet or shake off the water dripping from his haori, mane and hakama. Sango scowled at him, then made a great show of offering Kagome the last towel so she could dry the dampness Inuyasha had brushed against her arms.

The hanyou glowered at all three before turning his focus on Kagome. "What was that about warning me?"

"Oh. I, uh..." Kagome gulped, relief at his obvious lack of dismemberment vanishing under their expectant – and sullen – expressions. _What, am I supposed to say, "Yeah, Kikyou's after you 'cause you kissed me back" in front of these guys? _"Um..." They leaned in closer as she flushed faintly and looked down, playing with her hands in sudden timidity. "Someone found out about...something...and is mad at...uh...someone, for...stuff."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Inuyasha snapped, removing his haori to shake it out and spattering everything in range, oblivious to three sets of glares from his annoyed companions.

"It _means _I'll tell you later," Kagome said pointedly, wiping her face and moving to take his arm. "It's kind of—"

"Oh, _now _you wanna talk alone?" Inuyasha sidestepped and replaced the haori in one fluid motion, brushing one near-dry sleeve and eyeing her resentfully. "Forget it. If it's so damn important, you can tell me at dinner, when you _have _to—" He stopped dead, eyes going wide. Then he coughed, scowling more impressively than ever, and started for the stairs. "I'll come by later, when I feel like it."

"Ass," Kagome half mumbled, half snarled. _What's wrong with him _now? _And why do I even bother?_

"Inuyasha's temper rarely improves when it rains," Miroku remarked, wiping his cheek with one damp glove. "Of course, one wishes he would be more careful to spare _us _from a similar fate..."

Whether he meant getting wet, more rain, bad mood, or some mixture thereof, Kagome rather felt it was too late. "This sucks," she muttered, more to herself than either of her friends.

"Would you like to play cards, or perhaps more of the electrics, Kagome-chan?" Sango offered.

Kagome shook her head. "No, no electronics today, and I don't feel like cards, either." She shrugged. "Actually, I'd kind of like to be alone. Would you mind if I just hung out by myself for a few hours?"

"Not at all, Kagome-chan," Sango assured her, nudging Miroku sharply in response to his fleeting but openly suggestive look. "Perhaps we should go see what Kohaku and Shippou are up to, houshi-sama."

Sighing at the rebukes, both overt and subtle, Miroku nodded and half-bowed to Kagome. "Enjoy yourself, Kagome-sama. We'll likely be in your room should you feel the need for company again." With another long-suffering sigh, the monk nodded politely and followed Sango away.

_Hmmm... _Kagome wandered towards her room, mind ranging over her options. _Kikyou never harasses me more than once a day, so I'm safe there...should I go bug Inuyasha? Nuh-uh. He's in Jerk mode, and I do wanna be alone...I'll just have to hope she doesn't ambush him. Go read and listen to music? Tempting, but I wanna _do _something. DDR? Too much work, even if the endorphins would be helpful. Can't do anything outside 'cept maybe have a mudfight, but the kids are all busy..._

_Hmmm... _There was always the bag of wolf-bought things she hadn't completely dug out yet. She'd asked the men to move it to one of the kitchen storerooms...

_Ooooh. Cooking. _That was a distinct possibility. Contemplating a few different options, Kagome acknowledged greetings from bowing kitchen servants and went into the cool little area where supplies were kept, pawing through the garbage bag and squinting in the dim light. It was a slightly inane thought, and might not work in these conditions, but... She reached the bottom, finally located several smaller containers in their own sack, and smirked. "Ah ha!"

* * *

Inuyasha was mystified when the usual servant brought lunch up to his rooms almost two hours earlier than usual. "What's this?" he grunted at the woman as she set up the small table and began arranging dishes in front of him.

"Kagome-sama has requested use of the kitchens until it's time to start preparing dinner," she explained, pouring his tea carefully. "She was kind enough to permit us to finish your lunch first."

"Permit, my ass." What was she up to? Inuyasha scowled and dismissed the server impatiently, glaring at the food as though the miso, fish and rice were responsible. He picked up his chopsticks, poised them over the rice, and let his hand fall. _Is she so bored that she wants to make her own meals or something? _His scowl deepened. _Bad enough she still cleans up after herself like one of the servants...now she has to start cooking, too?_

That did it. Inuyasha cleared his mind with some difficulty and checked the entrances to the kitchens: no one there. Inside, alone, Kagome was bending over one of the few clear spaces left, arranging strange bottles and various implements; as he watched, she straightened, removed a small red band from her wrist and deftly twisted her hair up into a wispy coil, securing most of it so that only a few strands dangled at the back of her neck and fell forward against her cheeks. He caught himself admiring the effect and growled, snapping himself back to his room with irate celerity. _We'll see about this..._

Another moment, and he was standing outside the largest kitchen passage, ducking in and glancing around to ascertain his safety before proceeding to the area Kagome had commandeered.

Inuyasha peeked around the corner and promptly ducked back as she rose, turning towards him with a small bowl in hand. He sniffed discreetly, but general kitchen odors, banked coals and Kagome's nicely normal smell were all he could discern. Rather absently, he wondered why his father hadn't had the kitchens built separately from the main castle as was usual to reduce the risk of fire, the greatest hazard to any wooden structure regardless of size. _Saves me a trip through the rain, anyway._

Gratitude aside, though, he was still irritated as hell that she'd cleared the whole place just so she could do what she was supposed to be leaving to the people who handled it every day. They probably thought this was _his _fault, that he was starving her or something... He put on his most daunting scowl and stepped into view, drawing a long breath.

..._Dammit! _She had her back to him. Inuyasha was caught in a momentary quandary: say something now and get her attention, or wait for her to look around, and possibly scare her either way?

Both were rather appealing, but he nodded to himself as she began unsealing containers. "O—"

Loud noise.

Inuyasha's ears pricked up even as he floundered, blinking rather stupidly at her back. Kagome hadn't heard him—she was too busy singing. And not the light croon he'd heard twice before, either: this was full-lunged, uninhibited, and almost uncomfortably loud till he adjusted to the break in silence.

Indecision reigned again briefly, but was resolved in about three seconds as she began to turn again and he leapt out of sight. Then, once his ears confirmed that the sound had turned away once more, he peeked around the corner at her and stifled a snort: she was swaying back and forth on the balls of her feet, entire body rocking gently in rhythm to the strange mishmash of foreign syllables as she picked up a long metal tool and began to stir the bowl's contents.

Inuyasha didn't know quite what to think. _She made everyone leave so she could _sing? Granted, she'd said something about not doing it around other people, but this was taking it a little far. _Not like she sounds _that _bad..._He even recognized the tune...she'd sung a snatch of it back when she was braiding his hair and still recovering from her cold.

As the song continued and she alternated the words with humming, he grew more and more exasperated. Did she really think her voice was that crappy? He knew nothing about music, of course, or other languages, but he didn't have to be an expert or understand the words to appreciate the sound's lush clarity, the way her voice thrummed a little on the longer notes, resonating pleasantly deep in his attentive ears, and her sheer enjoyment of the simple activity. _I swear I'll never understand women...if she likes it and she doesn't sound like a cat coughing something up, why do it where no one's listening?_

Soon her humming died down, and Kagome sighed. Inuyasha risked another glance around the corner as she mumbled to herself, "That one never gets old. Thank God for Yusaku's friends..."

That made no sense to Inuyasha, who was forced back when she came towards him for another tool, but the glimpse he caught of her profile as she turned diverted his curiosity. A cautious sniff in her direction confirmed it. _Weirdo...I've never seen her so happy. She's just doing something with those powders and playing nightingale..._

On the heels of that thought, he felt his right ear snap to attention as Kagome began whistling, pausing every so often, usually in correspondence to the increase of scraping noises against the bottom of a bowl she was stirring. This melody wasn't as easy or relaxed as the first, with a sharper, more melancholy sound that he attributed at least partly to her breath control; some of the higher notes rang throughout his entire skull and made his chest tighten—whether from tension or emotion, he wasn't sure, as the sound vibrated almost as poignantly as her voice had. Either way, he was both disappointed and glad when she stopped. _Too touchy. Liked the first one better._

Silence broken only by scraping descended, and Inuyasha let out a breath he hadn't been aware of holding. Her grin returned to poke at his mind's eye and throw things into further disarray. _Never seen anyone get that excited about mixing crap together. What's she doing, anyway? Some kind of spell? _Cooking in his time did not emphasize combining ingredients into a product significantly different from the collection of its parts, and Kagome had yet to explain the subtleties of frying, roasting, baking, or other modern culinary techniques. Watching her break an egg into the bowl, he could only surmise that that would explain her mood change from her anger just a little earlier...maybe she was cursing him, or preparing some kind of poison, and looking forward to getting him back.

Fun as that was, he was forced to discard his darkly half-serious theories when she started another song, which he correctly guessed was in English. The tune was plainer than the first two, not as appealing in itself, but, for reasons he didn't care to pinpoint, her clear accuracy in the higher range and near-purr on the lower tones made Inuyasha feel funny. And there was no missing how much pleasure Kagome was deriving from letting it ring out, either...

Given his line of thought, Inuyasha was almost mad at himself for being surprised when his mind drifted back to the treehouse and, unbidden, began to remind him of certain tastes and smells, subtly pointing out that, in addition to prettily framing what was already quite a nice face, her hair's confinement left her neck and shoulders largely exposed. His foot began a slight tic as his feeble attempts to dispel the image were met with reminders of her reaction to his previous advances, and it was only when he caught himself thinking of things _much _more serious than bathing her neck that he slammed a fist into his thigh, perilously close to the source of his troubles, and got up, ready to put as much distance between himself and the oblivious girl as possible.

But his ears wouldn't let him. With one foot balanced over the threshold, he was forced to stop at sharp movement from the top of his head, straining to catch as much as possible of a song he actually understood. _I'll be damned, she _does _know how to sing something that's not in gibberish. _Irrational bemusement drew him back, settling down with his back to the corner wall as she checked a small oven's temperature, got up and began mixing yet more things into her bowl, never faltering in a twisting melody that alternated long, repeating words and phrases with rapid passages that spiked high and low notes and gave him a headache trying to imagine how to mimic the sound.

The words themselves were almost aggressively sentimental, he thought, considering the strength of the tune. He was vaguely annoyed at a few foreign words thrown in, but most of the lyrics were discernable, especially the sections she sang with the most gusto: those also happened to harp on love and loss in general the most.

A longer silence followed the end of the Japanese song. Inuyasha clenched his fists almost absently, shutting his eyes and shaking his head firmly. _No, she wouldn't be caterwauling if she knew I was here. It doesn't mean a damn thing. _A swift sideways peek revealed that she had spent the duration dabbing some kind of pale brown paste onto a short pan usually employed to bake fish, dotting it liberally in neat rows and opening the oven to slide the pan inside. He suppressed a snort at her muttered curse and the sounds of the pan being jammed more forcefully into the small space, sighing as she cheered softly and closed the little door with her own sigh. "Hope they don't taste like seafood..."

Inuyasha gulped hard as Kagome sauntered back to where the bowl was sitting, picked up the tool she'd used to stir the brown paste, and deftly plucked a dark spot off its end with a flick of her tongue; if his mind hadn't veered so suddenly and so sharply in one direction, Inuyasha might have scoffed at the gesture, as she then flipped the tool's rounded head around and stuck nearly the whole thing in her mouth, swiping it clean with one long pull through her lips anyway. Funny, though, how he couldn't seem to...think...tongue, and...

_Oh, shit. _He closed his eyes again, but for an entirely different reason. Why oh why had he ever kissed her and given himself fuel to add to what was already a substantial and only somewhat metaphoric fire?

_Nah, then I'd just imagine what it'd be like instead of figuring out which taste was ramen and what was her, _a tiny, still-rational part of his brain volunteered.

Nothing else to be done for it. _Hope it's not raining still...even if the whole point is to get wet anyway. _Inuyasha scowled and got up again, trying to reclaim enough mental control to picture the river.

_This _time, his nose was in on it, too, directing him to sniff more curiously at the oven just as his ears noted happily that Kagome was starting another song, this one suited perfectly to her high range; heart still pounding, but intrigued, Inuyasha cautiously sank back down on his haunches.

The nonsensical words didn't bother him now. On the whole, he mused, sometimes it was better _not _to know what kind of crap she was singing about...and in this case, even the plainly repeated syllables bridging verses were carried on lovely, arching streams of sound that alternately raised the shorter hairs on the back of his neck and calmed him like a sip of sake, spreading quiet peace through his uneasy mind as effectively as Kagome had aroused it.

The smell of whatever-it-was in the oven grew stronger as she slipped into yet another melody that seemed made for her; if anything, this one was even more soothing, rippling lightly back and forth on strangely accented words, lilting sweetly and leaving a near-painful shock of quiet echoing in his ears when Kagome stopped abruptly, making disgusted noises and muttering something about knowing made-up languages but not "Russian," whatever that was. It was small consolation to hear her drink some water and whistle the rest. _Stupid wench, no one gives a damn whether you've got the words right or not!_

Even the whistling faltered as she smelled what he'd long since detected and opened the door to check the pan, closing it and fanning herself. "Few more minutes," she muttered.

Inuyasha wouldn't have thought he could surprise himself again, but when she began _another _song, pitching her voice lower than she had before and almost chanting smoothly rapid English words rather than singing half the time, he felt a twinge of guilt. She'd made all this effort to be alone, without the brat or the bouzu or even Sango to keep her company, and here he was hanging around like some kind of annoying puppy...

He winced as her voice rose in dejected grace on the refrain, repeating the same words a few times before tapping her foot in time and letting it fade. At least her scent didn't...he sniffed again, and his ears folded. Some of that sadness had indeed trickled into her demeanor, and Kagome seemed to wilt slightly as she pulled the pan out of the oven and set it down to cool, wrinkling her nose at the fragrant, oddly shaped lumps. "Dammit, I should've known it wouldn't work..."

_What the...? _All he could see were blotches of pale brown on the pan. They didn't even smell that bad, and yet Kagome was staring at them, lips pressed into a thin line, arms crossed impatiently. _What's her problem?_

It occurred to him, from a bitter, snide part of the back of his mind that he usually kept back there for a reason, that while he had plenty of experience watching women from afar, Kikyou had never given him this kind of dilemma: she almost always knew when he was near, and certainly never let him catch her with her guard down. His careful observation of the priestess's activities had at least been fair, not to mention necessary, while _this _was just spying. And now that she was upset, what was he supposed to do? Something? Nothing? Blow his cover? Slink away? What?

Kagome's snort broke into his rumination, and to his overwhelming relief, she shrugged to herself, took another sip of water from a tall modern container, and began lifting the now-solid lumps off the pan with a broad, flat-edged tool, digging a little to separate wood and whatever-the-hell-it-was, then transferring the stuff to a tray, forming a pile and flipping a clean cloth over it with a triumphant snap of the wrist. "That's one," she said to no one in particular, arranging the cloth to her satisfaction and turning to inspect the pan, missing a blur of white as Inuyasha ducked away just in time.

_Too close. Least she smells okay now... _Inuyasha willed his heart to slow as she drank some more, whistled absently, and then launched into another Japanese song, this one quick and upbeat, almost rowdy in comparison to the others. She even paused just before the refrain and simultaneously rapped her foot on the floor and the tool in her hand on the bowl's edge thrice, confusing him till he realized it was part of the song; but the words, like the other lyrics he'd understood, spoke of devotion and loyalty in a context that struck a little too close to home for him, belying the jovial melody till she reached the main line and drew the notes out, vocal cords humming expressively. It ended abruptly in an English word he naturally did not know, but which he guessed, accurately, was some kind of endearment.

Now he was completely torn; guilt and acute discomfort brought on by some of those strange words urged him to leave her to her weird cooking and go hurt something, maybe spar with the monk or pick a fight with the wolf...but a glance around the corner – Kagome was smiling broadly, trying to get a smear of brown off her cheek, with only moderate success – and curiosity kept his feet planted in a relaxed crouch against the wall. Besides, what else was there to do around here with it raining outside?

Inuyasha sighed as she finished the song with a series of humming and nonsensical words, clicking her tongue in time to the snap of the oven door closing on a second batch of...stuff. He sniffed avidly at the oddly sweet, almost burnt odor drifting from the tray, and wondered again what it was supposed to be.

..._Gods, hasn't her throat gotten tired yet? _He scowled at the onset of yet another song. And she was still using Japanese, as if to mock his initial distaste for the other languages. _Any more sappy words and I'm outta here._

Of course, now that he was on the defensive, this turned out to be a slow, gracefully poetic tune, haunting, but simpler than anything else she'd tried; the lyrics merely dealt with flower petals swaying, serenity, something about white sand and moon stories—

The tension that'd leached out of his muscles by the time she finished the verse snapped right back into place as she drew a deep, shaky breath and, instead of letting it out, continued. The hanyou froze, hands rigid on the tatami as her voice sank from studied melancholy to genuine distress.

The last note was almost strangled, ending on a gulp. Inuyasha methodically sank his claws into the tatami between his feet and began ripping long rows up, urge to flee rising against a violent impulse to make her stop somehow as she persisted, voice hoarse butall too clear.

Before he could help it, he had poked his entire head around the corner in mindless worry, just in time to meet her teary gaze head-on.

Time stopped for a moment, Inuyasha freezing in panic as Kagome's mouth fell open. His muscles refused to obey his brain's hearty suggestions of moving away _now_, while his ears alone welcomed the idea and retreated to lay flat against his hair. _Gods, she's gonna cry, and kill me, and then she's gonna cry some more—why the hell didn't I run!_

Kagome also wasn't moving. "Inuyasha? What are you doing there?"

"Ah..." Nothing else came to mind. Then, as the silence stretched painfully into awkwardness, it came to him: he still had no clue what to say. "Uh..."

He was _not _prepared for her to laugh, or grin, or shake her head, but these she did. "Honestly, Inuyasha, if you were curious, you should've just come in." She crossed the short space to stand over him and bend down, hand extended and face alight. "I should've known you'd smell them anyway. Come on, I want you to try the first batch of cookies."

"Cookies?" Inuyasha eyed her hand suspiciously, still waiting for her to blow up at him for eavesdropping, then blinked intelligently when it became evident no retaliation was forthcoming. "But...I thought you—"

"I'm not mad anymore." Kagome came around closer and tugged at his elbow. "C'mon, I'd like the company."

Inuyasha suppressed a growl of pure bewilderment. _First she speaks in code and pretends it's my fault for not getting it, then screws everything up and gets off on singing and acts like me interrupting is even better! _The sadness had faded entirely from her scent and body language, too... "Make up your mind, wench."

Kagome merely shrugged, pulling gently at his arm till he arose with a great show of reluctance and followed her to the oven, crossing his arms as she uncovered the first pile and removed two lumps. "I'm sorry for throwing your lunch off, but I wanted this to be a surprise. It's a rainy-day tradition to make these for family, and I kinda miss baking."

Some of the shock of not being murdered began to ebb away, and Inuyasha scowled at the warm lump she placed in his left hand to cover his confusion. "What the hell is this?"

"I told you, it's a cookie. Try it." Kagome smiled, unfazed.

He glared at it, then at her, sniffing at the thing cautiously and nibbling a tiny piece off, pointedly looking elsewhere to avoid her expectant, self-conscious gaze. The odd taste, burnt, sweet and somewhat fishy, lingered in his mouth after he swallowed, and he couldn't help smacking his lips as best he could with his fangs in the way. "The hell?"

"Is it that bad?" Kagome's smile became rueful. "I was afraid the tray would make it taste funny, but we don't have any tin foil, and I had to use tofu instead of butter."

"Tin foil? ...Butter?" Inuyasha scowled, broke off a larger piece of 'cookie' and chewed, taking great care as always to keep his teeth from disagreeing with his tongue too sharply. "This is weird."

Kagome assumed a properly indifferent expression, though the way he finished the cookie and eyed the rest belied his wrinkled nose. "Like I said, I had to improvise. The next batch might be a little better, since I put the cookies in the same place as these. Plus, the others have peanut butter, and I think you'd like those more than the chocolate in these."

"Keh." He crossed his arms, reminding himself very sternly not to read anything into the fact that she had been glad to see him/made these with him in mind, and scowled again even though Kagome had just turned back to the oven and couldn't see.

"This'll probably sound stupid, but I always liked making these," she said conversationally, bending to check the tray in the oven. "Mom taught me how. She and I used to spend hours in the kitchen, just sitting around and talking."

_Or singing? _He had a strong suspicion that was part of it, too, but offered only a slight snort, hard pressed not to wince when she shrugged and shook her head. "Yeah, I know you don't care, but it's your kitchen, so it wouldn't be right if I didn't harass you a little with pointless stories."

Inuyasha's ears flicked violently several times as sadness pricked his nostrils, and he growled irritably at her back. "It's no skin off my nose if you wanna spout foreign crap or yak about your family. So don't act like it's such a big deal, okay? It's annoying."

Kagome was framing an indignant reply when something stopped her cold. "...Wait...foreign crap? When exactly did you come in here, Inuyasha?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" She wasn't turning to look at him, and he gulped slightly.

"It _means _I've been singing only in Japanese for the past couple of songs." His ears started up again, and she laughed, shaking her head and bending to check the tray again. "Honestly, if you wanted to torture yourself, you could've just gone try to make friends with Kouga instead of listening to me sing."

Inuyasha's left leg twitched, and he clamped it still lest she notice; he couldn't have kept comical dismay off his face to save his life, though, and she confirmed her suspicions with a light glance over her shoulder as he sputtered, "I...well...it's...shut up!"

Again, instead of raising her voice, Kagome paused for the briefest of seconds, then began giggling quietly. "You are _so _transparent sometimes."

"Shut up," Inuyasha muttered, wincing inwardly at his own whininess. He crossed his arms. "I was just curious about the weird smell."

"And morbidly curious about the noise I was making?" Biting her lip to keep from laughing at his utterly adorable sulk, Kagome forced herself to focus on the stove. "You could've said something and come in. I would've stopped."

"Yeah, I know," he grumbled, not catching himself till she was already staring at him. "What?"

"So you just sat there and listened instead?" Kagome swept her loose hair behind her ears nervously, trying to chalk up her facial heat to the stove. "You have better hearing than most humans, right? I didn't know you were a masochist."

"Shut up, wench! I didn't want to distract you and make you burn the place down." He huffed and refolded his hands into his sleeves. "And like I said, you can do whatever you want here as long as you don't hurt anything or piss me off. I don't care. So just...do whatever you feel like, and no whining, got that?"

"As ye wish," she replied in a fair imitation of the younger servants, smile threatening to emerge when he nodded shortly and stared at his feet. _Who does he think he's fooling?_

Inuyasha had an extremely uncomfortable feeling that she hadn't bought it. _And she really thinks she can't sing? Who the hell is she comparing herself to? _It occurred to him that maybe his enhanced hearing had something to do with their disparity in opinion, but that couldn't completely explain it...

And he wasn't even going to let himself wonder if anyone had ever been that openly glad to see him; his mother was always so busy, and Kikyou had never quite let go of her instinctive wariness around him, which he had accepted as natural so long as he was half demon—who in their right mind would completely trust a hanyou?

More song.

His head snapped up so fast that his neck twinged. Kagome was easing the tray out of the oven using a strange kind of modern glove, but not so focused on the task that she couldn't also finish the song, with him standing less than four feet away and unmistakably listening. His throat constricted as she laid the tray down carefully, almost whispering the last line.

"That was one of Mom's favorites," she said briskly, turning to reach for the long-handled scraper. "Just remember, you said I could sing, so I'm gonna hold you to th—"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Inuyasha had backed her against the nearest wall and was snarling down at her in the space of a rapid double heartbeat. "What do you think you're doing, huh? Are you _trying _to fuck with my head, or are you just stupid?"

"What're you talking about?" Kagome's good mood was drowned in a rush of surprised anger, and she refused to look away as his glare intensified, eyes almost glowing red. "I think I've been pretty patient with you today, Inuyasha, and the _least _you could d—"

"You don't get it. You _really _don't get it." He couldn't take the hurt and confusion in her defiant expression, and told himself that was why he chose to pull her against his chest, giving her the lightest shake he could. "Just..."

"Inuyasha, what...what're you doing?" Kagome was at a complete loss. _Yelling, cussing, hugging...is he bipolar or something? _So much for not touching her, either... Much as she wanted to melt into him, though, he clearly wasn't in a romantic frame of mind. _Like he ever would be. _"Inuyasha, what's the matter?" She patted his back hesitantly.

"You're the matter," he mumbled, vaguely aware that he really shouldn't be in this position and enjoying it on some semiconscious level. He reluctantly let her go enough to lean back, regretting it the moment her hand came up to pull his forelock worriedly. "Stop that."

Kagome hesitated, then gritted her teeth and tugged harder. "You're the one who grabbed me this time. Make up your mind, why don't...huh?" A vague, persistent feeling had suddenly crept up on her.

Inuyasha's right ear rotated back towards the outer courtyard at a thin, sharp whistle. "Who or what the hell was that?" Profoundly – almost pathetically – grateful for the distraction, he released her and stood still to listen.

The near-itch in the back of Kagome's mind increased. "Inuyasha? I think...I think it's Shimoko."

"What? How do you know?" She ignored his scowl and moved out of the kitchen as the feeling grew even stronger. "Oi!"

On an impulse, Kagome went to her room, which was strangely empty, and looked in vain for the mirror till she saw Buyo curled up on the floor, snoring, one black velvet corner sticking out from underneath the furry calico-patterned fat, and yelped. "_Buyo_! Fat butt off demon mirror, _now_!" Ignoring the grumbling protests, Kagome heaved all 20 pounds off the wrap, breathing a sigh of relief that ended in aggravation when she saw all the cat hair on the velvet. _No time to go over it with a piece of tape...stupid cat!_

A servant boy hurried up to her as soon as she came out. "Kagome-sama, you have—"

"She knows, kid. Go away." Inuyasha, who had been waiting for her behind him, jerked his head outside. "Wipe your face and get your ass out there. The sooner we know what she wants, the sooner she goes away."

The boy scuttled away. Kagome stuck her tongue out and handed Inuyasha the mirror so she could pull her hair free, running her fingers through it to fluff it a bit and swiping at her cheek. "Is it off?"

"Hold still." Inuyasha pulled his sleeve over his hand and used the slightly rough surface to gently scrape the last of the dried batter off. "There. Let's go."

"You should've just used your head...or your tongue, more specifically."

Inuyasha nearly dropped the mirror, shoving it at Kagome so he could whirl around and shout at his smirking niece unhindered. "Dammit, we were going outside! Did you have to come in without asking!"

"I got impatient." Shimoko half-bowed to Kagome. "Are you well, Auntie?"

"I'm fine, Shimoko-sama." Kagome bowed lower.

"Ah, you were prepared, I see." The demon indicated the velvet-wrapped mirror. "It hasn't shrunk again, either...and oji-chan didn't think to use the mirror to let you clean your own face. It _does _work normally, you know."

"Shut up. What do you want, anyway?" Inuyasha snapped.

She shrugged elegantly and turned on her heel. "Come, the monk and exterminators are outside already."

Shimoko ignored Inuyasha's questions till they were out in the sunshine, air already growing muggy and dirt squelching wherever they stepped off the path. Miroku, Sango, Shippou and Kohaku were kneeling with Kaede a safe distance from the shrine in a miniature garden tucked against the side of the castle, and three more cushions had been arranged, a cloth spread in the middle. It was evident from their lack of surprise that Shimoko had been introduced to everyone, Kagome noted with relief; she wondered how long the demon had already been there.

"Now..." Shimoko indicated that Kagome should sit in the middle and lay the mirror down on the cloth, seating herself as the girl complied and Inuyasha sank onto the remaining cushion. "It's very simple, using the mirror. You need only have everyone who will view the memory touch the rim; the person with the memory to be broadcast allows something of his or hers, say an article of clothing or an object with deep personal meaning, to touch the surface. I must emphasize once again that letting your skin come into contact with the glass is not permissible, and if one person withdraws, or if the article is removed, the memory will cease and the process must be started again. As you are all here, this will be much quicker and easier than showing my mother's memory, though this does carry personal risk lest the mirror pull you in. It was originally used to capture and consume souls, and its appetites still lurk somewhere, I believe..." Shimoko smiled brightly. "Who wants to try it first?"

Silence.

"Why do we even need this thing?" Shippou piped up.

"Because it's fun," Shimoko said flippantly, cracking a smile when her audience gaped at her. "Because, little one, this place has a unique history, and recalling it may give your future lady a better idea of what has happened here and what she may need to do should the curse be broken."

"Don't call her that," Inuyasha muttered.

"Shut up, please, oji-chan. Now, who wants to try it?"

"I suppose I will," Miroku said with a valiant attempt at calm, and Sango clutched at his arm so hard that he winced. "It's all right," he assured her, uncurling her fingers with some effort and looking to Shimoko for support. The demon nodded shortly.

"Ye are _quite _certain this cursed thing is safe?" Kaede's single eye narrowed slightly.

"Nope. But if we're careful, no one should get eaten." Shimoko shrugged and beckoned to Miroku. "Move closer, houshi, and hold out your hand. Those beads should be adequate, so long as you don't rest them too firmly on the glass."

Once the back of the monk's hand was hovering over the mirror, only shaking very slightly, and each person had a hand on the rim, Shimoko became deadly serious. "Transmitting a memory to the mirror and back is not difficult, nor is it very dangerous so long as you're careful. My mother has shown me the battle with Naraku hundreds of time since I was a child, and never showed ill effects.

"Now, houshi, think back to a very vivid time in your life, say, a childhood memory, something not terribly serious but important to you—nothing _too _personal, please," she added dryly, and Kagome couldn't hold back a snort. Shippou and Kohaku looked askance at her, but Shimoko plowed on. "Whenever you're ready, houshi, hold it very strongly in your mind and allow your beads to rest on the mirror. Once you're done, or if you feel the glass attempt to pull you in, lift your hand. Till then, don't be alarmed by anything unusual. I'll be watching your back, so to speak."

"All right..."

Kagome was prepared for the blackness this time as Miroku lowered his hand to touch the beads to the glass, and she made soothing noises at Shippou's squeal of alarm. But instead of having to wait for the mirror to fill up, the glass flared briefly, subsiding to show a small, clear pond at midday, sun glistening in folds off its rippling surface. Two small hands shot into the water, narrowly missing a large carp, and the image pitched forward as the point-of-view slipped and fell in, unnervingly real as the silent picture blacked in and out to mimic someone blinking water from his eyes. "Incredible," she heard Kaede whisper reverently.

"I certainly didn't think so at the time," Miroku's voice remarked, drawing nervous laughter.

The image unsteadily rose out of the water and back onto the bank, turning to shake water from unseen hair and create countless smaller ripples, which cleared just long enough to reveal a very young boy with a wet cowlick of black hair and dark blue-gray eyes screwed up in frustration. Kagome nearly squealed. _I wonder what Inuyasha looked like as a kid...? _She nearly squealed again, then forced herself to stop it lest she interrupt.

Young Miroku's face cleared; the perspective whipped around over his shoulder, and the image got up and ran shakily towards a woman in a simple, neat green kimono kneeling under a nearby tree, tugging at her sleeve as she tried to settle him down to eat a few rice balls set next to a tiny cup of tea. After much silent pleading and hand gestures, the woman managed to get him to kneel, and they got a good look at her as he said something that made her smile: she had the monk-to-be's lustrous hair, but otherwise, Kagome surmised, Miroku must have gotten his features from his father, not from this sharp-looking, brown-eyed person, though the kindly set of her mouth did seem familiar.

Nothing happened for several moments as the image showed several rice balls being devoured, till the second-to-last one came out almost as soon as the first bite went in; his mother leaned over in concern, lips moving, and watched him hold out the rice ball. Her eyes suddenly widened, mouth pursing to hold in what Kagome thought looked rather like laughter. Then she frowned, speaking sternly, and the image looked down at his lap in contrition—and disappeared, fading back to blank glass.

Miroku carefully lifted his hand from the mirror, breathing a sigh of relief as they easily came free. "I couldn't have been more than three or four years old," the monk said as the little group blinked, adjusting to the surge of daylight against their eyelids. "My mother died only a few years later, but she told a few friends of hers the story, and they told my guardian, who brought me here and told _me _what it was I said..." He chuckled. "I don't recall saying it so much as I do falling into the water and then eating, but apparently she had included too little filling on one, and I showed it to her and repeated a phrase she often used with peddlers: 'This is unacceptable.'"

Kagome caught Sango's eyes, and each knew the other had the same mental image of a near-baby Miroku very seriously informing his mother that her cooking was unacceptable, and they began giggling together in perfect unison.

"Quite," Shimoko agreed, lips curved slightly.

"Feh." Inuyasha drummed his claws on the rim impatiently. "That was nothing."

"You're just jealous 'cause Miroku's cuter than you are," Shippou said wisely.

"Shut up, brat!" Inuyasha seized the nearest rock at hand and deliberately missed the kit, nearly braining Kohaku instead.

"Watch yourself, Inuyasha," Sango snapped, all business as Shippou pulled his eyelid down at the hanyou and immediately had to leap aside when Inuyasha decided to just throw himself forward, forcing Kohaku back instead. The boy twisted around, turning to avoid Inuyasha as the castle's lord decided to go through him to get to the kitsune and Sango raised her voice. "Inuyasha!"

Shimoko watched tolerantly as Sango pulled her younger brother to safety and Kagome scolded Inuyasha to little avail, but the demoness's eyes grew wide as they fell on the younger slayer's back. "All of you, _stop_!"

Everyone but Inuyasha froze in place at the harsh command, and Shimoko made a slashing gesture: instantly the hanyou became a very angry statue, air locking him into place with his hand closed around Shippou's tail. "Lemme go!" they snarled as one, Inuyasha trying to glare sideways at his niece and Shippou batting at his hands.

"Be quiet, oji-chan." She released him, and Shippou scrambled for the safety of Kagome's lap, where he stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha. Shimoko ignored Inuyasha's muttered threats and knelt closer to the mirror. "You, boy, Kohaku. Give me your weapon."

Kohaku gulped and removed his chain sickle. "This, Shimoko-sama?"

"Yes." She extended a hand, frowning at his hesitation. "Come now, I will give it back. I merely want to examine it more closely."

"Demons can't touch our weapons, Shimoko-sama," Sango interjected. "They're sealed in order to contain any youki that might linger in the materials, and to prevent demons cut by our weapons from instantly healing as well. You may try if you like, but you'll end up with blisters or worse."

"Contain? Then there _is _still..." Shimoko's nose wrinkled. "Did you ever attack Naraku with that blade, boy?"

"Only once, Shimoko-sama," he answered after a glance at his sister. "It was only a small cut on the shoulder."

"From what I understand, he was a slippery little bastard. Well done in striking at all." She frowned at the sickle again. "I wonder...touch the mirror with it."

Kohaku gulped. "Shimoko-sama, I—"

"I thought I felt something strange from your weapon, boy, and I _will _investigate." Shimoko gestured imperiously. "Do it. Think of your skirmish with him."

Violent dread seized Kagome as the boy looked askance at Sango again, then lowered the weapon towards the mirror and the group replaced their fingers on the rim. "Wait!" she almost squeaked, and Kohaku jumped, the tip a hair's breadth from the glass.

"What is it, Auntie?" Shimoko asked impatiently.

"Um..." Kagome shook her head, pushing her hair back with a trembling hand. "I...don't know, but I've got a really bad feeling about this. Maybe he shouldn't do it?"

The demoness glared at her for so long that Inuyasha began rumbling faintly. "Stay out of this, oji-chan." Her expression cleared slowly. "You may be right, though how you would be aware of the possible consequences when I myself forgot momentarily, I don't know." She tossed her head, letting her gray hair shift across her shoulders. "Not the best idea, to let the remnants of Naraku's demon energy touch a mirror he himself created. Silly me."

"Naraku's..." Kagome blanched.

"Calm down, Auntie. I merely meant that sometimes youki clings to certain things, and some of it might still be within the boy's weapon."

"If that was the case, Shimoko-sama, Kaede or myself would have felt it," Miroku disagreed politely.

"Not with the way they're designed to suppress the energy they encounter," Sango pointed out, taking the sickle from her brother and hefting it lightly.

"Let me see that."

Only Shimoko did not react with considerable surprise to the voice behind the little group; her eyes widened at what her nose and eyes told her as she glanced at the source. "You...you must be Kikyou." She sniffed delicately. "You're a spirit?"

"Correct." Kikyou did not look at any of them, 'brushing' past Kagome and around the mirror to regard Kohaku and his weapon coolly. "I am no demon, boy, and I know that that creature is dead. That does not, however, exclude any remnants he might have left behind. Hold still."

Kohaku very bravely did not move, permitting the priestess to examine the sickle in his shaking grasp closely. She held out one solid-looking hand, giving no notice of the boy's squeak when her fingers passed through the sickle entirely to lightly 'grasp' the handle.

Kagome winced as pain wormed into her brain, threading through her skull as if a needle was being pulled between her ears, and abruptly disappeared, leaving dizziness in its wake. She glanced around, caught Inuyasha's puzzled eye briefly, and gave him a small smile to indicate she was all right.

"Inuyasha."

He was on his feet and facing the dead priestess before Kagome could blink. Kikyou smiled thinly, half-bowing. "You owe the girl much in defending you, though how she knew is beyond me...for now." Kagome held firm as the priestess spared her an unreadable look. "Do not, however, think yourself absolved quite yet. We will discuss this more tonight."

"Tonight..." Raw panic consumed Inuyasha for just a moment. "NO! No, no, that's not..." He saw their reactions and swallowed, getting himself under control with palpable effort. "Could you wait till tomorrow night? Or this afternoon? Or _now_?"

"Did you have something planned that my presence would make rather _awkward_, Inuyasha?" Even Shippou flinched at the single dose of venom in her otherwise calm words. "Or would you rather I take you to task for your indiscretion right now?"

"Does that mean you know he didn't k...do it, Kikyou?" Kagome said loudly, barely catching herself and earning either a shocked stare or a glare from everyone concerned. Shimoko raised an eyebrow at her, and Kagome gathered her courage, looking back at the priestess with a semblance of calmness. "Either way, I hardly think it's right to talk about _anything _right now, don't you agree?"

Kikyou's eyes burned into hers, and for just a moment Kagome wanted to look away, disappear, maybe get up and run away, possibly screaming...then she remembered that, as much as she had suffered herself, this woman had also caused Inuyasha untold agony, and her chin came up, calm no longer forced. "You guys do need to talk, Kikyou, but not now. Goodbye."

Kikyou did not move or speak for the count of fifty. Kagome's eyes began to water slightly, but childhood staring contests had built up her endurance; Kikyou finally uttered a soft "Fool" and winked out, leaving Kagome to sag over, gingerly peeling her eyelids back down.

"I think I missed something," Shimoko said dryly.

"Idiot!" Inuyasha exhaled so loudly that Shippou jumped, and the rest of the circle also began to breathe freely again. "What made you butt in like that?"

"Excuse me for saving your ass," Kagome snapped, too unsettled to care about her language in front of Shimoko and Kaede, or how they hid their amusement and disapproval, respectively. "What, would you rather have let her rip you a new one _now_?"

"Shut up! I would've thought of something!"

"Like what? Like 'She attacked me and put a spell on me to make me like it, so please don't kill me'? Like—" Kagome clamped her jaws shut, nearly severing her tongue.

"I believe _much _explanation is necessary," Shimoko said smoothly over Inuyasha's heated retort. "For now, I'd like to see if I can locate my mother to consult with her. In the meantime, you two play nice, and don't do it where others can hear, hm?"

"You stay out of this!" Inuyasha growled and made a rude gesture at this niece's now-empty cushion. "Dammit, doesn't anyone stay put anymore?"

"I'm confused," Shippou complained.

"You're in good company, kid." Inuyasha stalked away towards the steps before anyone could ask any more questions. "I'll be in my room if anyone's dumb enough to need me."

* * *

His next unpleasant surprise of the day: Shimoko had _not _left the castle yet. In fact, she was standing at his window in his bedchamber. "What the...?"

"You were in love with the priestess, weren't you?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth, but sound wouldn't come out for several seconds. "_What_?"

His niece gave him a cold stare that would've made her father proud. "I'm familiar with the reports Sesshoumaru gleaned from his spies within the castle, and opinion held that you and Kikyou were suspiciously close. With your obvious regard for Kagome, not to mention the smell of your saliva on her neck, I couldn't think of any other reason for the curse still being operational at this point unless something was holding you both back."

He bared his fangs. _So that _is _what she meant by that crack about looking back that time...! _"It's none of your damn business!"

"It is _entirely _my business when my family is involved, and from what little I've seen and heard, my only uncle is preparing to throw his life away to satisfy an outdated sense of honor to a woman centuries dead, and at the expense of Kagome's happiness. Do _not _tell me she means nothing to you, oji-chan. I don't appreciate being lied to, even if you seem to enjoy doing it to yourself." If anything, her eyes grew colder.

Inuyasha's nails were sunk into his palms, embedded nearly halfway into the tough flesh. "If you think I enjoy the fact that Kagome got dragged into this, you're fucking wrong."

"I have some inkling of the pain you feel knowing she's involved, and I know this because I know you care for her." Shimoko sighed quietly. "And you avoid the question as neatly as ever. Just admit that you like her, at the very least, and cease wasting your energy pretending that liking her is betraying Kikyou."

"I _am _betraying her," Inuyasha snarled, beyond caring about keeping his guard up now. "I never even got the chance to kiss Kikyou, and look what I did to Kagome! You think that's not betraying her, and just screwing with Kagome?"

"I suspect you did nothing _to _a girl as healthy and honest as Kagome, oji-chan. Might I hazard a guess that _she _initiated the contact to which Kikyou was referring, and which I smelled on her?" Inuyasha flushed darkly, and Shimoko had the grace not to smile. "I won't ask you to change your entire life according to my opinions. But I do request you at least attempt to realize that you don't have to waste your remaining time making Kagome feel stupid for caring about you—because if you can't see that she does, you're even further from hope than I thought."

A snatch of quiet verse drifted up through his mind, a glimpse of a smile, words chiding him for not coming in sooner—

"You care for her, and there is _nothing _wrong with that. You will not feel guilty for spending time with her, and so long as you force nothing upon her, you will not blame yourself for anything you do with her. Is that clear?" Shimoko came across the room to look him in the eye at closer range. He bowed his head sullenly to avoid the piercing red-gold, mind in too much turmoil to reply. She went back to the window and sighed again. "I'll say no more for now. Until I see you again, oji-chan..." Gone.

Inuyasha raised listless eyes to the window, weight of her words crushing his usual self-defiance. _Fuckin' stupid...I don't like Kagome. I don't. If she wants to give a rat's ass about me, that's _her _problem._

But she'd saved his life, kept him warm...

_Guilt. I owe her more than I could ever repay, but that's all._

Made those damn fishy cookies for him...

_For everyone else, too. I'm just part of the pack._

Sang in front of him, smiled at him, kissed him, defended him at every turn—

How was he supposed to ignore that?

More importantly, how was he supposed to acknowledge it without admitting that she'd worked so deeply under his skin that he felt slightly guilty, even unclean, as though just his feelings were enough to taint her?

Inuyasha didn't know the answer.

All he knew was that Shimoko was at least partly right. He...no, he forced himself to let the thought filter slowly through himself: _I like her. I care what happens to her. _

...There, that wasn't so bad. Was it?

He _still _didn't know.

Growling, Inuyasha shook himself. This was getting him nowhere, and he wasn't going to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing how much his head was screwed up right now. It was time to go rejoin Kagome and pretend nothing was any more wrong than usual. _Wonder if any of those 'cookie' things are still good?_

* * *

A/N: Whoo, that was a doozy. This'n took me 4 or 5 days, when I usually knock 'em out in a single night—and several all-nighters went into here alone.

Notes: first off, I forgot to mention this last time, but I'm currently not accepting marriage proposals (I do feel special for having to say so, though ;D), as I have my hands full with a pretend 'Net spouse and a real-life boyfriend. Sorry!

And I have no clue as to the merits of tofu as a baking substitute; nor could I find much info on feudal Japanese kitchens, though I beat the crap out of several search engines. I claim right of clueless author against correction on those points (though if anyone gets curious enough to try the tofu thing, I'm not responsible—though you can feel free to tell me if it worked or not, 'cause now I'm curious).

I had to mangle this chapter six ways from Sunday to comply with the allegedly always-in-place lyrics rules. Blarg.

That's all for now...(fans self) Okay. Time to edit 'n upload. Till next time, kids...


	28. Shedding Some Light

Disclaimer: I'm so out of it, I misspelled 'disclaimer.' By that logic, I also don't own Inuyasha 'n co. Think about it. Just not too hard, 'cause I don't want to get sued for brained damages.

A/N: Okay, time to end this day...I haven't had writer's block so bad in months. :pain: Sorry for the delay. Let's see if I can't make it up a bit, ne?

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 28**

Rather than face a gauntlet of whispers and questioning stares from servants infesting the corridors between himself and the bottom level, Inuyasha elected to place himself outside, directly where the group had been not too many minutes ago. He focused his eyes on the now-empty space and blinked. "Huh?"

"Heads up!" Kagome's shout almost drowned out the smooth whiz of air next to his ear. Inuyasha just barely managed to put a hand up in time for something firm and unyielding to strike his fingers and bounce off.

"Really, Inuyasha, do you _try _to be inconvenient?" Sango chided half-seriously, just out of his field of vision on the right.

"Nah, he's just a pain," Shippou said nonchalantly from behind Kagome, several yards away.

"Oh, leave him alone." Kagome flapped her loose blouse and made a gesture Inuyasha didn't quite get. "Inuyasha, move so Sango-chan can throw it back, please."

"Throw what back?" The hanyou's mind was still in considerable disorder; he frowned at her, and then at the object on the ground, more out of confusion than spite. "The hell?"

Sango sighed, moved around him and picked up the bright red circle, holding it up to display curved edges and several ridges lining the rim. "It's a form of exercise to build speed and agility, intended also for amusement. It's called..." She paused, looking to Kagome for help. "Fu...Frizzy?"

"Frisbee," her friend corrected, jogging over to take it and move aside, bending her arm at the elbow and calling to the monk, "Try catching this one, Miroku-sama."

Inuyasha's left ear half folded as Kagome flicked her arm out hard. The strange disc, rather than falling or doing anything too much out of the ordinary – there went his theory that everything in this time was designed either to stink or make noise – soared in a delicate arc, curving away from Miroku and forcing him to run after it. The monk lunged, fingertips brushing the disc and tipping it out of the air to roll along the ground and further towards the woods.

"That was a pretty good try, Miroku-sama," Kagome said encouragingly.

"Yeah, you almost didn't make an ass of yours—" Inuyasha ducked his head under both arms to evade threatened blows from each side. "I was kidding, dammit! Not my fault he missed it!"

The monk did not deign to answer, wiping his sweat-dotted forehead discreetly on his left glove and turning away haughtily instead. "Did you want to try, Kohaku?"

"If you don't mind, houshi-sama." Flushed at the attention, Kohaku started towards the disc, bending to retrieve the now-muddy red plastic.

Awakened from her nap by the commotion, Kirara mewed from the roof above Sango's head, stood, and flared into her large form; before they could react, she had launched herself and swooped down to pounce on the disc and delicately snatch it from the boy's grasp just as he touched it.

"Kirara!" Sango and Kohaku scolded simultaneously as the fire-cat sailed back to the roof and trapped the disc upright between her paws, nosing it and turning it this way and thatin unabashed feline curiosity.

"Kirara, give that back," the older slayer said firmly, fighting back a smile as the fire-cat managed to get the Frisbee onto her nose, lifted her head and let the disc slide down, catching on her ear as it fell. Kagome kicked herself for not having a camera, then settled for laughing with Sango instead at the sight of the great cat's head peeking over the side, Frisbee dangling precariously despite the large black ear's reflexive twitches. "Come on, Kirara, I mean it. Give it back to Kagome-chan now."

A grumbling meow of assent and a flick of her head later, Kirara glanced down resentfully and settled herself to go back to sleep, conveying plainly that she knew when she wasn't wanted.

"Oh, don't be like that, Kirara," Sango said, half amused and half exasperated. "You know you shouldn't have stolen it in the first place."

"Hmmmm..." Several memories flitted through Kagome's mind. _But it won't work. Unleess..._

Kagome picked up the dirt-specked Frisbee. She then glanced at Sango, to Inuyasha, over at Kohaku and Miroku, and finally looked back up. "Hey, Kirara?"

The fire-cat feigned deafness.

Kagome shrugged, ostensibly turning to Sango but raising her voice to be heard on the roof. "Well, it's a tradition to hold little throwing competitions, say, between guys and girls, but there's no way we could do that, 'cause Inuyasha's too much faster than we are, and it wouldn't be nice to leave him out, either. Too bad we don't have any _female _demons around who would help even things out. Right, Sango-chan?"

* * *

Kouga was in an excellent mood; he all but hummed as he sped through the forest back to the castle, casually tossing the tiny thing in his right hand to his left and back before he remembered how frail it was supposed to be and stopped. _She's not gonna be happy if I break it, eh? _He grinned at the thought of the tongue-lashing he'd get. _She'd never forgive me. _His grin faded. _Dog-turd would never let me forget it, either, the whiny little bastard..._

Another glance at his loosely closed fist reassured him, however, and the smile returned in some measure. _Nah, it'll be fine. Hell, it'll be better than that...! _

The fresh scent of Kagome and her usual companions drifted to him on a shifting breeze. The wolf lord chuckled to himself and picked up his already considerable pace. _I don't even have to get her away from that white-haired freak, either. Can't wait to see the look on his f...what the—?!_

Kouga skidded to a halt just shy of the last few trees bordering the castle grounds and sniffed again, scowling. _I know that stench. ...Well, both of 'em. I know that brother of his has been here, but not the other one. Where the hell is he?_

Upon circling around to the east and following the offensively fresh trail to its source, however, he did not find Naraku: instead, right where the smell was strongest, Kagome was running full tilt away from the younger of the two demon slayers in residence, and the fire-cat darted in long enough to take an oddly shaped red thing out of the girl's hands just as Kohaku closed in. _What in the..._

Inuyasha was keenly enjoying the exercise, so much that it took him several seconds to recognize the wolf's presence, and the interruption annoyed him even more than usual. He pivoted, leaped and just barely snatched the disc from Kirara's loose jaws – one of many rules Kagome had improvised was that if either of the nonhuman participants damaged the Frisbee, his or her side lost by default – landing on the balls of his feet facing Kouga. "Yeah? What the fuck do you want?"

"Why does it smell like Naraku was here?" Kouga ignored him and stalked over to the niche, where the odor was strongest.

"It's a long story, but his...well, I guess you could say she's his granddaughter, was sitting there," Kagome said awkwardly, shrugging and edging away as unobtrusively as she could. "Her name is—"

"Shimoko was here? Why in the hell...?" The wolf's ice-blue gaze swept the ground. "Ginta said she's with her mother on some kind of business trip."

"Her mother was an offshoot of Naraku," Miroku explained, coming up to retrieve his staff from where he'd leaned it against the nearest wall. "I suspect her parentage lends her the ability to travel great distances easily. Calm yourself, Kouga-sama. She means us no harm, and she is _not _Naraku."

"You'd better be right about that, human, 'cause if anything happens to Kagome..." Kouga let that hang for a moment, then turned his back on the monk and beckoned Kagome closer, speaking over Inuyasha's growls. "Speakin' of which, I have something for you."

"Really?" Unenthused at the prospect of having to deal with more of Inuyasha's jealousy, Kagome let Sango come up closer beside her before stepping forward herself. "What is it?"

"It's...uh...here!" Kouga unclasped his hand and held it up triumphantly.

Inuyasha's smirk at the wolf's obvious forgetfulness faded as Kagome got a good look at the proffered object and gasped sharply, bringing one hand to her mouth and staring, wide-eyed. "Is that...?" She looked up at Kouga, still awestruck. "Can...can I—"

"Hakkaku let me borrow it just so you could," Kouga said graciously, and Kagome almost snatched the cell phone from his hand, dimly aware of Inuyasha growling and equally aware that she didn't care at the moment.

"What is it, Kagome-sama?" Kohaku asked, craning his head around his sister's shoulder with uncharacteristic boldness.

"It's a cell phone, Kohaku-kun, a device that lets people talk to each other over long distances without seeing each other. The curse wasn't designed to keep these out—oh, I hope I can get a signal—Dad has one, too, let's see if I can remember his number..." Kagome let herself babble to work out her excitement lest she drop the palm-sized phone, figuring out how to flip it open and punching the digits carefully. "Thank you _so _much, Kouga-kun. This means the world to me..."

"Yeah, I thought you might like to tell 'em about everything, talk to your dad and warn him not to do anything till the castle's gone," Kouga said modestly.

_How very sweet. _But she was too elated to feel more than fleeting irritation; besides, who was she to look a gift horse in the mouth? _Or gift...wolf. Or is the phone the gift in this case? I dunno. Don't care, either..._

"So, _what_ exactly are you doing, w—"

"Moshi moshi?" Everyone but Kouga gaped as she spoke loudly, using words specifically designed for use over the phone—words thus not employed in the feudal era, and certainly not at full volume with a small, glowing lump placed over the ear. "Is this the Higurashi residence?"

"Kagome-sama, what in the world are you—"

Kagome flapped her hand at Miroku urgently for silence; their puzzlement grew as her face fell. "Isn't this..." She repeated a long sequence of numbers, and her face grew pink. "Oh. I'm very sorry to have bothered you." She took the phone away, punched another button and sighed. "Wrong number."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Inuyasha grated.

"If you want to talk to different people, you have to know each person's code, which is made up of lots of numbers, dog-turd." Kouga raised a smug eyebrow, which did nothing to improve Inuyasha's temper. "Right, Kagome?"

"Yeah, and I accidentally got one of the numbers wrong just now," Kagome admitted. She glanced around at the largely-still-blank faces and sighed. The tension she'd worked out by running around was starting to return, tightening around her scalp. "Maybe this was for the best. Now that I think about it, I need to talk to Dad without everybody listening. I'll meet you guys in my r—no, actually, Sango-chan, I'll meet you and Shippou-chan in the baths soon." The kitsune had been watching from the sidelines,and he perked up at the mention of bath time despite his relative cleanliness. "Okay?"

"Maybe I should talk to him, too," Kouga mused, tapping his chin in sudden thoughtfulness. "He _is _gonna be my father-in-law, after all, and it'd be polite. What d'you think, Kagome?"

"I think you'd better get your ass inside before you _really _piss me off," Inuyasha cut in, advancing and edging between them.

Kagome rolled her eyes behind his back, turning to sneak quietly off towards the forest as Kouga crossed his arms, glaring at the hanyou. The others also took the opportunity to leave without demon or hanyou noticing. "Oh, _really_? The last time I checked, you had nothing to do with her except trapping her in your stupid curse. Why don't you go talk to your dead wench instead?"

_Happy thoughts, Kag, happy thoughts... _Kagome willed herself to block out the sounds of bellowed curses and something large slamming into something else. Instead, she focused on the tiny buttons, marveling at how much smaller the things had gotten in just three years. _Let's see... _

Dialing from memory again, Kagome let her fingers remember the sequence, careful to keep her short nails from slipping and hitting any other keys. Then she hit the last button and brought it to her ear, holding her breath.

* * *

Neither of the combatants might have noticed that the object of their duel was gone if Inuyasha hadn't caught himself on the ground and planted his left foot for balance directly on the forgotten Frisbee. His ears snapped out of their flat defensive posture. "OI! Where's Kagome?!"

Kouga pulled the blow he'd aimed at the hanyou's midsection, leaping back instead to glance around and sniff the air. "She's just in the forest, dog-turd. There's nothing else out there, either. We scared some cat demons away this morning, and Ginta said he'd check again before they left for Ho-why—some island humans like to go to. Kagome'll be back here!"

By some miracle, Inuyasha managed to track Kagome a few hundred feet into the forest without Kouga informing her of their presence; the wolf demon caught up to him in seconds, but caught the hanyou's warning glare and gesture just as Kagome's voice came through the trees. "No, no, Dad, I'm _fine. _Really."

By what surely had to have been further divine intervention, the two managed to reach an unspoken agreement, fanning out silently on the girl's left and right, hiding behind trees close enough to hear both ends of the conversation. Inuyasha clearly recognized Yoshio's whining tenor coming from the strange device in reply: "Are you _sure _he hasn't hurt you, honey?"

_Damn, that thing's loud, _he noted in bemusement, even as his hackles rose at the voice's implication.

"I'm _fine, _Dad. Inuyasha hasn't so much as touched me."

_Knew it! _Kouga exulted on the other side of the log upon which she'd seated herself to talk. _Must be some other explanation for his stink all over her._

"A monster like that?" There was a vague mumble, which Inuyasha guessed must have been the man talking to himself or someone else. "Akemi is convinced that he's...well..."

"Tell Akemi that Inuyasha's very strong, but not even he's capable of doing _that _without touching me," Kagome said at her driest.

Yoshio chuckled nervously, and Inuyasha suppressed a growl at the barest hint of a snort from Kouga's direction, too soft for Kagome to hear. "I suppose, dear. I'm just glad you're safe, that's all. But why would that thing keep you there if he's—Ake...!"

"Hey, kid." The phone on Yoshio's end had evidently been stolen: this speaker had a heavy female drawl. "Nabiki and I figured you were still around after somethin' took your bed out. It grabbed some of our stuff too, y'know. You're gonna give it back whenever you come back, _right_?"

"Glad to talk to you, too, Akemi," Kagome snapped, and even Inuyasha winced at the edge on both voices. "Give the phone back to Dad. I don't have much time to talk, and this is kind of important."

"Oh, don't be such a bitch about it. C'mon, you've gotta have some pretty good stories about livin' in a magic castle with some kinda monster. Is it, like, something from the feudal era, where all the guys slept with guys 'cause it was cooler back then?"

"He's _not _a monster, he does _not _sleep with _any_one, and I am _not _talking to you about this now, Akemi. Okay?" Kagome held the phone away from her ear, leaning her head on her free hand in utter disgust as the other end protested loudly.

_No wonder she was willing to die, _Inuyasha mused, and caught himself wondering how long it would've taken him to just say "Hell with this" to the curse and kill his guest if Akemi had come instead of Kagome. Three days? Two?

Finally, Yoshio managed to resume control of the phone, and Kagome rather tersely explained why he shouldn't sell his property till the month after next at the very least. "You haven't had any offers yet, have you?"

"No, honey, I don't think so..." There was a pregnant pause, as Yoshio evidently had to search his memory to double-check whether a potentially life-changing event had happened yet or not. "No, no one has. You say...some _wolves _want to buy it?"

"Uh...yeah. There might be something else, too, but...yeah." Kagome exhaled. Her headache deepened, and she rubbed her face wearily. "Um, look, Dad, this thing's batteries are almost dead. Maybe I'll be able to borrow it again sometime, but till then, I have to give it back. I love you." She swallowed hard at his long pause, whispering a faint "Bye" and clicking the phone off.

Inuyasha remained carefully still and sensed Kouga doing much the same as Kagome sighed, laying the phone in her lap and burying her face in her hands. Nearly a minute passed, and he was almost beginning to wonder if he should show himself when her head came up, and he ducked behind the tree.

"I know you guys are there." Both males cringed at her flat, implacable tone. "The first one to come out _might _not die."

Kouga promptly stepped out, ducking his head and offering a sheepish smile. "You got me there, Kagome." She glared at him so mightily that the powerful wolf demon gulped and shrank back. "Sorry 'bout that."

Without answering, Kagome eased to her feet, lunged and seized Inuyasha's sleeve, dragging him out into the open and withering him with a slight upgrade of the same glare. "What were you two doing out here? I thought you'd still be trying to bash each other's heads in."

"We noticed you were gone and followed you," Kouga volunteered.

"I was the one who noticed, fleabag, not you!"

"Who the hell cares?!"

"Why shouldn't I care that you're lying right to her face?!"

"Shut up!"

"Make me!"

"**_Both_** of you shut up!" Kagome balled her hands into trembling fists. "I can_not _believe you'd stoop to eavesdropping after I said I wanted some privacy—and then you weren't going to let me know you were there?! Honestly, what the hell is _wrong_ with you two? It's bad enough that you're always acting like I'm some kind of toy you can fight over, but then you sneak around like this and blame each other?! Thank you for the phone, Kouga-kun, but if I see either of you two again for the rest of today, maybe tomorrow, I'm going to shove it down – or up – the worst place I can find! I'll see you both later—the later, the better, okay? Okay. Have fun _killing_ each other."

Neither male was quite dense enough to respond or attempt to keep her from stalking off towards the castle. In fact, it was only when the sounds of stomping and muttering had faded even from their keen ears that Kouga exhaled and scooped up the cell phone. "Good one, dog-turd."

"Shut up, asswipe." Inuyasha was as subdued as the wolf, though, and he could only muster token irritability when Kouga began fiddling with the device. "What're you doing now?"

"She must've wanted to leave pretty bad. The battery's almost full." Kouga didn't bother explaining, but Inuyasha felt he understood the gist of it.

"Don't tell me you know that spineless moron's number," Inuyasha muttered, resisting the urge to lean over further as Kouga kept pausing, tapping more buttons, pausing, and punching more with his thumb.

"Nope. But there's a way to retrieve numbers that've been dialed, and if I can find it, we can...ah, here it is," Kouga said smugly, turning on his heel and sauntering away insolently. "You can go back to the castle now, dog-turd. This doesn't concern you."

"Go to hell and gimme that!" Inuyasha made a lunge for it.

"I don't think so." Kouga almost brushed him aside with a well-aimed kick. "Besides, this thing isn't meant for freaks. Look where my ears are, then look at yours." He pushed another button and made a great show of lifting the phone to his pointed but human-placed ear. "See?"

"I can't look at my own ears, dipshit," Inuyasha retorted, but folded his arms over his aching side and stubbornly stood listening without further comment.

Kouga made a face at him, then coughed and spoke politely, nearly giving Inuyasha coronary failure. "Higurashi-san? This is Kagome's fiancé."

Yoshio sputtered, groped for words and then haltingly asked for confirmation, unaware that his daughter's ostensible intended had moved with blinding speed to pin the castle'slord underfoot and catch him in a neat headlock with his feet and one arm.

Kouga smiled as Kagome's father noticed aloud that this was indeed the same number Kagome had just called from, which meant this was probably not a prank call.... The wolf raised his voice to drown out Inuyasha's curses. "Yes, actually, it's just been decided, and Kagome's not up to talking about it quite yet," the wolf said cheerfully, grinding his knee into the hanyou's back to keep the growling from getting too much louder. "She's very upset right now. Suffice to say, I'm also trapped in the curse, and I've gotten to know her quite well."

"I...see. Well, I must say, it's very relieving to know there's someone there to keep that horrible creature from molesting my little girl," Yoshio admitted.

"Yes, it's been very difficult, but Kagome's very strong," Kouga said sincerely, and if bloodlust could be quantified, Inuyasha's would have tripled. On the last word, Kouga had to shift himself to hold the phone between his muscular shoulder and ear so as to keep Inuyasha from tearing off whichever of the wolf's limbs he could reach. "Your...uh...family seems to have put up with adversity very well."

"Oh, you've no idea of the half of it," Yoshio said candidly, warming up rapidly to the idea of having a sympathetic ear, regardless of how he sounded or why Kagome had not mentioned something as momentous as being engaged—not to mention the sounds of scuffling on the other end. "My wife died when Kagome was young, and her older brothers and sisters...well, mainly her sisters blamed her for it, and when we lost all our money a few years back, she had to take charge of the household."

His voice became higher and thinner with distaste; Yoshio took a deep breath and charged ahead, unaware that his audience – both of them – had stopped dead and were listening intently. "And now this horrendous _beast _has taken her away from us and threatened her and stolen my family's property, we haven't been sure whether she's alive or dead, and even if she returns safely, we can't be sure she won't remember such a terrible experience for the rest of her life, can we?"

"No, indeed, sir," Kouga murmured, glancing significantly at Inuyasha. The hanyou did not look up.

"But if a _nice_ young man is there for her, why, I'm sure she'll be just fine, sir, fine indeed." Yoshio hesitated. "Er...forgive me, but...your name is...?"

"My family includes several respected entrepreneurs, journalists, and scientists," Kouga said smoothly, breathing an inner sigh of relief as the words came out the way he'd practiced. "Trust me, Higurashi-san, I intend to care for your entire family as if it were my own—which it will be, soon enough, if I may say so."

Inuyasha's stomach turned itself in and out steadily as Yoshio tried to work out how best to indicate just how much Kouga was permitted to say so without licking the 'younger' man's feet. _This is pathetic. Gods, this is _worse _than fucking pathetic._

But what was he supposed to do about it? Tell Kagome? He knew the stupid wolf well enough: Kouga would willingly admit to calling Yoshio, because he wouldn't see that he'd done anything wrong. Kagome would either have to give in and go along, or spend a helluva time extricating herself, which would still leave her family high and dry once she'd made her feelings clear.

Kouga ended the conversation with vague promises to talk more later and clicked the phone off with immense satisfaction, lazily getting to his feet and scratching his ribs idly. "Well, dog-turd, you heard the man. Do me a favor and tell Kagome I talked to her old man when she gets over bein' mad at us, will ya? If you do, I might just let him know you didn't even _try_ to eat his daughter."

Inuyasha said something so uncharitable that Kouga burst out laughing, scaring several birds away with the crack of his hand against his bare thigh in pure merriment. "You are one _pathetic _piece of crap, you know that?"

No answer. The wolf gave one last snort, shoulders still shaking, and sauntered off. "I'm not gonna bother kicking you while you're down. In fact, I'm gonna take a bath and catch up on some sleep, so if you want a rematch, you know where to find me. Later."

* * *

A long, hot soak eased most of the stiffness from Kagome's muscles, and her headache diminished almost entirely in the damp heat.

"That certainly was fun," Sango remarked, flexing her right shoulder. The slayer had been able to throw further than anyone but Inuyasha, who often as not ended up flinging it more towards the ground than his partners. "Even Inuyasha seemed to enjoy it."

"Yeah..." Kagome sighed and slid down till the water hit her chin. "I shouldn't have reamed them so much."

"Why? They actually worked together for once, and they listened to your private talk with your father," Shippou said reasonably, attempting to doggy-paddle the way Kagome had showed him not long ago.

"That's true, but I owed Kouga a favor, and Inuyasha was in such a bad mood earlier. I should've cut 'em some slack." Kagome sighed and lifted the kit out of the water. His sodden tail dragged him down too much for swimming to be feasible for at least five more years. "Too late now, I guess. I'll apologize to Inuyasha at dinner."

"Um...excuse me, Kagome-sama..." A servant woman slid out of the shadows and bowed deeply. They jumped, and she flushed, bowing as far as she could bend her waist. "I'm so sorry to intrude, but Inuyasha-sama requested dinner early. He usually does so when he wants to go to bed early as well, or whenever he plans to inspect the grounds unseen. There must have been a failure to communicate his wishes to you properly, and I apologize. I only happened to overhear..."

"That's all right," Kagome said quickly, as the woman – hardly more than an adolescent girl – began fidgeting and twisting the front of her kimono with both hands, turning the knuckles white. "Thank you for telling me." She squinted at the servant's face as the woman started to bow out. "What's your name?"

"Kossetsuko, Kagome-sama. Also, Sango-sama, your brother asked to see you as well once your bath is concluded." With no further excuse, the servant abruptly turned and limped away swiftly, leaving a thick silence over the room.

"What kind of name is that?" Shippou wondered aloud.

"Shippou-chan!" Kagome scolded. "Didn't you see her ankle? She broke it and it didn't heal right. 'Fracture' is probably just a cruel nickname she got stuck with."

"I don't remember a servant with a badly healed leg," Sango said quietly, frowning at the water. "I suppose she usually stays in the laundry room or kitchens to keep from showing it, or stressing the injury."

"Probably. I never knew there were any pregnant servants until Saki gave birth, after all," Kagome reasoned, daring herself to get another Bad Feeling over something fairly trivial, if unnerving. A mild gurgle arose in her stomach, but nothing came of it save a light belch. "S'cuse me."

"Well, either way, you'd better go to dinner," Sango said briskly. Kagome nodded, and despite Shippou's protests, they dried themselves off and got dressed with much more haste than usual.

To further save time, Kagome waited till no one was looking and then willed herself into the dining room, pleased that the action caused no more than a twinge of dizziness. "How's it go...ing?"

She was speaking to an empty room. The little table hadn't been set up, there was no light nor food, and Inuyasha was most definitely not there.

"Dammit..." _Okay, don't panic... _On a whim, Kagome tentatively checked Inuyasha's chamber and the surrounding area and hallway with her mind: nothing out of the ordinary. Inuyasha was nowhere to be found, though. "Dammit!"

_Waaaaaitaminnit... _This felt familiar, if a little less scary and more irritating than before. She directed her sense towards the pavilion—and there he was, looking sullenly at the horizon again. It was all she could do to pull back without going out into the dying sunset and strangling him. "Inuyasha, you _moron_!"

Then several things clicked: the ordeal with the spider and their little slumber party outside had taken place almost...no, exactly a month ago now. That meant he would lose his powers again tonight, and ordering dinner early had been a ruse to keep his secret from being discovered. _Wonder how many servants have figured out something's up by now? _Not many, now that she thought about it; if this was a common enough occurrence, no one would link Inuyasha retiring early to the new moon or losing his powers. _Wonder why that even happens..._

But, then, why hadn't he told her?

_Probably some combination of me knowing already, not wanting anyone to overhear, and not wanting me to tear his head off and eat it. _Kagome grimaced. _I _knew _I shouldn't have yelled at him earlier._

Then she perked up. _Hey, another slumber party—he probably won't be bleeding to death this time, either. _It would be as good a chance as any to find out whether his change in personality had been due to the new moon or his weakness, not to mention apologizing privately. And if he complained about her presence, well, she'd saved his life once already, hadn't she? _Not like he can go anywhere, either. So there._

First things first, though: _if I don't tell Sango I'm camping out with Inuyasha...argh, better come up with a reason...damn, can't think of anything...well, I'll just tell her and Shippou not to expect me in the room tonight, and maybe Inuyasha will let me tell them why. It beats getting tied to a stake in the yard. Better get my jacket, too..._

Naturally, neither Sango nor Shippou were in their room. Kagome rolled her eyes at the ceiling, then shrugged, located her comfy old denim jacket and headed for the entrance area, slipping on her shoes. _Too many servants around now. Maybe they're outside; if not, I can sit down somewhere and search, just as long as—_

"Kagome-sama!"

—_no one bugs me. _Kagome just barely managed not to cringe at the voice hailing her from the courtyard. She came to the railing and squinted against the sun's last rays, making out Ginta's waving form. "Ginta-san? What're you doing here?"

"I have something to show you," the wolf called, smiling genially at servants who passed with nervous bows. "It'll only take a few moments. Would you like to bring Inuyasha-sama or your other companions?"

Kagome hesitated. "Is it very far?"

"No, no, Kagome-sama, just inside the woods." Ginta waved carelessly at the forest. "Actually, it might even be more fun if you rode it up to the cas—" He stopped, eyes going wide. "I mean...um...forget I said that."

"Rode it?" Kagome couldn't help smiling at the blatant slip. "What is it, a pony?" Her eyes widened. At the top of the list she'd requested had been... "A bike?!"

Ginta shrugged with elaborate nonchalance, cracking a smile at her growing excitement. "Well, you can at least show it to your friends by bringing it back to the castle. If you'd really like, I can just deliver it in the morning, or I'll just roll it—I mean, take...whatever it is...here, right now. Kouga-sama thought you'd like the surprise more, though." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Could you please pretend I still surprised you?"

"For a bike, I'd pretend to be a drag queen!" Kagome placed one hand on the railing to hop on, then thought better of it as servants eyed her discreetly. Suddenly, and very strangely, she was reminded of similar looks she'd gotten last month, when she'd first slid down the rail in blind panic, trying to locate Inuyasha. The day she'd recovered from her cold – and Buyo had shown up – was the only other time, and that had been for fun...

_Huh. Weird. _Shrugging, Kagome came down the steps with her best combination of speed and dignity, nodding to the wolf demon, who nodded back politely and set off for the woods. "Not too far, Kagome-sama. This way, please..."

* * *

Inuyasha sighed grumpily as the sun dipped lower. _I thought she'd be here by now, dammit. Don't tell me she's so pissed that she decided to leave me here and eat with Sango? _It was entirely possible. _Guess it's a good thing I didn't talk to her earlier, then, or she woulda killed me._

There was no way she could've forgotten about the new moon, though. _Damn nosy wench figures everything out sooner or later...empty room, clueless servants and me up here would tip anyone off. _She didn't know Kouga had had the area cleared of demons, either, and that he was more or less safe out here. Therefore...

..._What the...?_

Inuyasha's nose was still sharp enough to catch Kagome's scent: very, very faint, but unmistakably outside. For a second, his heart lifted absurdly. _Is she coming up here?_

Seconds passed, and no Kagome materialized. What little he'd detected of her scent also faded. _Dammit._

Now what?

* * *

"Oh, rats," Ginta grumbled, stopping so suddenly that Kagome nearly ran into him.

"What is it?" She stepped aside, leaning against a tree and noticing a definite lack of bike in the area.

"Hakkaku was supposed to drop it off while I went and got you." The wolf scratched his head. "I'm terribly sorry, Kagome-sama. We can go back to the castle and I'll deliver it tomorrow, if you like..."

"Uh..." Well, it wasn't even dark yet...quite. "Let's wait a few minutes. Is it already assembled?"

"Yes, ma'am, all ready to go," Ginta said happily, settling down in a crouch not far away.

Greed got the best of her. "Great! If he doesn't get here by dark, then we'll just get it in the morning." Kagome also sank to her haunches, scratching her legs. The sound of nail scraping skin was conspicuously loud. "It's really quiet out here."

"Yes, most forests are during twilight," Ginta noted. "The forest surrounding our mountain was very peaceful at dawn and dusk."

Kagome nodded politely, unwilling to say that the silence here was borderline creepy. Maybe it was just being out without Sango, Miroku or Inuyasha, but the forest didn't seem quite as inviting as usual. _Stupid new moon weakness weird thingy messing with my head... _

Something about that prodded at her. She shooed it away. "So, what speed is this surprise? 10?"

"It's very fast, Kagome-sama." Ginta bobbed his head.

"Ah." _Should've seen that one coming. New topic time. _"So...you don't have any kids?"

"No, Kagome-sama," Ginta said ruefully. "Only pack leaders – alphas – are supposed to breed; otherwise there'd be too many of us. At least that was the rule back when territory and food supplies were outnumbered by hungry demons, anyway. I do know a few female wolves, but the only unpaired one has been waiting for Kouga-sama to awaken for...is something wrong, Kagome-sama?"

"No, just a little headache," Kagome said brightly, glad she wasn't standing. Otherwise, a sudden head rush would've sent her right to the ground, hopefully just on her butt. _What? What the hell is the matter, body? Either tell the rest of us or shut up!_

She smiled and nodded at Ginta's prattling, concentrating on herself, waiting for some kind of magic signal or premonition that would alert her to danger. Nothing.

_Huh. See, me, I don't feel anything. That's wh—_

Nothing.

With a wolf demon sitting _right_ _there_, and after she'd detected both Kouga and even Inuyasha's weaker youki just a few hours ago, Kagome could now feel not a damn thing in the area.

_Either I'm losing my powers, even though I can still zip around, or..._

Her voice was cracked and weakly dry, chest constricting as her heart sped up. "Ginta-san? I'd like to go back now."

"It took you this long to notice, Kagome-_sama_?" The wolf's eyes gleamed in the encroaching dark. He rose with menacing purposefulness, towering over her and raising a hand almost carelessly.

A scream died in Kagome's throat as the arm..._melted_, flesh seeping into a sickening ripple of dark purplish-black muscle, slowly twisting itself into a thick limb and coming to a sharp point. This he aimed directly at her heart, voice oozing from the wolf's high, self-effacing tones to a deep, chilling baritone. "You prefer not to run, and accept your fate as punishment for your stupidity, girl? You disappoint me. Easier for all concerned, though. Goodbye."

The shout of her name from the right broke Kagome out of her paralysis, and she dove to the side just as the not-demon thing somehow slammed the point into the bark without moving its body. She made the mistake of twisting around and saw the limb retract, curling out of the hole it'd made halfway through the trunk as its owner slowly turned to face her. Then his head raised, and a thin smile curled the edge of his lips. "Ever the sentimental fool, Inuyasha, coming out so close to sunset."

"I fucking killed you!" Inuyasha snarled, sparing a second to give the monster a look of hatred and rage Kagome had never thought him even capable of before he whirled around to scoop her up and place her on her feet safely behind him. "Are you all right, Kagome?"

"Yeah, but...what _is _that?!" Fear overruled other questions: why he was here, whether he should be out when the sun was no longer visible...

"It sounds and kinda smells like Narak—"

Inuyasha's waning reflexes were still sufficient to save his life and Kagome's, jerking them out of the way so that the monster's armwhistled pasthis right cheek instead of impaling their heads. "Run!" he shouted, nearly dragging her along and shoving her ahead as the monster chuckled hideously.

Kagome's legs obeyed, even though her mind had decided it would be more fun to run around in circles and bash into ideas at random in the hopes of hitting a good one by accident. _Naraku's alive? No, he's dead. Kikyou thinks he killed her? This isn't Ginta. Does it matter if this thing is trying to kill us anyway? So did Shippou eat all my raspberry chocolates, or was it Nabiki and I just miscounted?_

"You can't run forever like that," the cold voice said, almost disapprovingly, after a few minutes. Inuyasha barely avoided another stab, pulling Kagome to the side and out of harm's way for the moment.

_Shit. He's playing with us! _He could feel his muscles burning, legs still working fast, but with a fraction of his hanyou speed; he didn't even want to consider whether Kagome's breathing was labored out of fear or exhaustion, or both.

The voice laughed quietly, and every hair on Kagome's body stood on end. The laughter continued, following them even more slowly as Inuyasha leapt to a stop and shoved her almost face-first into a tree. "Rope! Climb! NOW!"

Kagome scrabbled at the dark, locating the ladder by feel and banging her knees and elbows in her haste to get up into the treehouse. _Wards, safe, gotta get in— _She threw herself into the doorway and yanked Inuyasha's extended hand, neither caring that he hit his head on the doorframe before she got him inside and they lowered the reed door.

"Shit!" Inuyasha collapsed on the floor, panting, allowing his head to thump on the floor when there was no sound of pursuit. "..._Shit_!"

Kagome couldn't speak; she felt around frantically for the flashlight, cursing richly inside when she failed to locate it. _Dammit, this is all my fault, and now we're stuck in here and it's all my fault... _She gulped, working her panic, guilt and fear down, lowering herself to pat around tentatively. "Inu...yasha? You okay?"

"_I _am fine, you gullible, brain-dead, worthless excuse for the most witless bitch alive!" Kagome yelped as an arm found her leg and used the guide to circle her waist and yank her down against him. Whether he had his usual powers or not, his grip was still uncomfortably tight, winding around her waist and shoulders as he continued to hiss at her. "Didn't you hear the wimpy wolf say his lackeys weren't even in fucking Japan?! And couldn't you feel the difference between a demon and a kugutsu?! Naraku used those damn dolls all the time to do things he didn't want to dirty his hands on—they have no youki, but they can take his shape, and they can gut you like a fish if he wants them to!"

Kagome shrank, burrowing into his shoulder. _Nothing like a nice near-death experience to make you _not _want to fight... _"I didn't know," she mumbled. "M'sorry."

"Don't bother apologizing, you stupid bitch!" She flinched, pressing harder and eliciting his new-moon version of a growl. "And don't cry, either, okay?!"

"You just yelled at me 'cause I was stupid enough to get killed over a damn bike and compared me to a dead fish! Why the hell would I not cry?!" Kagome sniffled and tried to push away, but his arms flattened her again. "Let me go!"

"Like hell!" Inuyasha half rolled over, pinning her almost fully against the sleeping bag. Each could feel the other's heart thundering, but Kagome was too shaken and Inuyasha too lightheaded with relief and anger to see any danger beyond what they'd so narrowly escaped. He buried his face between her neck and shoulder, inhaling the scent of sweaty skin and letting his senses convince his brain that she was _not _dead, or in immediate danger of becoming such. "You move, and you're probably gonna run out there again and I'll have to save your ass on my h...bad night!"

"I am not! And I'm sorry I didn't come up sooner! Now lemme go!" Kagome weakened her point by wriggling over to fit more completely under him, not caring that she was using him as a human blankie, or that she was playing with long, satin-soft hair freely as he nuzzled her neck. _This doesn't count! And I've earned it! _

"No." Adrenaline was still pumping, and even vague awareness that he wasn't thinking clearly didn't stop him from propping himself on his elbows to rub his uninjured cheek against hers. "If you _ever _scare me like that again, I'm gonna have Sango chain you up somewhere."

"Bite me," Kagome murmured out of habit, running her fingertips across his scalp absently.

"I _mean _it, Kagome." A light scrape against her throat got her immediate and undivided attention. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Look, I said I'm sorry," she said quietly. Now that she was beginning to calm down, things were beginning to sink in, and their position was not entirely appropriate. _If this was a romance novel or a shoujo anime, we'd be leading right up to the big makeout/NC-17-rated scene...but we've already made out, albeit _way _too briefly, and in here, too...better stop before we get carried away and Kikyou turns us both inside out._

"I told you, don't even bother." If Kagome was becoming more rational, Inuyasha was losing it. All he could think of was the moment he'd decided to try to reason with her, tonight, and use the last moments of his full power to come down and find her. If he'd been so proud and stupid as to stay up and wait for her to come to _him_—

Kagome gulped as he returned to her neck, inhaling so deeply that it almost tickled. "Inuyasha?"

Dulled as his sense of smell was, his nose was still linked to his most evocative source of memory, and though he couldn't really smell arousal anymore, Inuyasha did notice that the scents of wood, sleeping bags, night air and Kagome were all present, just like last time. Somehow, his unsettled mind decided that maybe his body had a point, and if the scents made him think of _that_, well, maybe that was just what one did in here. She hadn't protested for a while, and she wasn't being shy about making sure _he _was okay. So, well, why not?

"Inu...?" Kagome's breath flickered out as the weight above her descended and firm warmth grazed her lips, brushing lightly, lifting just long enough to try another angle, coming down again with more force and awakening every nerve ending in her body. _Now he's done it._

Inuyasha sank down against her more comfortably, keeping most of his weight on his elbows and letting her hold his head in place again. Kagome was careful to let him lead, though, and she suppressed a sigh of mixed content and frustration as the warm pressure on her mouth remained chaste, unhurried. Like last time, he clearly was not thinking straight, though fear for her safety was what needed to be addressed now, not lust.

...Or so she thought until he shifted from two elbows to one, the other hand drifting down to rest idly on her hip. She noticed with no more than passing interest, only paying more attention when his head lifted slowly to rest back on her throat. Disappointment swiftly met surprise as her short blouse's hem lifted away from her side and long, callused fingers crept underneath.

Kagome couldn't have made a sound to save her life, or even if she'd wanted to.

"You're warm." Inuyasha sounded almost apologetic, but he didn't remove his hand. The coolness of his flesh seemed odd, considering what they'd just been through, but she vaguely remembered that he'd been cold last month, too. Then again, he'd also been losing blood at a ridiculous rate...

Wait...no claws. No claws meant...no fangs? "Inuyasha?"

He sighed and slipped his hand out, pulling her shirt back down. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," she said with mock crankiness, almost managing a laugh as he grunted and returned his other arm to wrap around her shoulders. "Actually, um, I was kind of wonder—"

Light spilled from the doorway, and Kagome was momentarily blinded. When the spots cleared, she gave a choked whimper and clutched Inuyasha's shoulders so hard that he grunted and twisted to get free. Then he caught sight of what she had seen behind him and felt dread pool in his stomach. All he could do was press Kagome down protectively as the kugutsu loomed directly above his head, unnatural illumination throwing Ginta's cheekbones and gaunt features into terrifying relief against the surrounding blackness. "Kugutsu _have _no youki, and ofuda do not keep me out." A tentacle came up. "And I shall inform Kikyou that her faith in your fidelity was mispla—"

"Kikyou knows as much already."

"What?!"

The demon puppet never got an answer: one second it was trying to see the cool female voice's source behind it, flinching at light it obviously had not been aware of as it crept up on its prey, and then a katana's tip was jutting from between its eyes. As they watched, transfixed, the blade dropped in a shower of loose earth, and the katana fell out of sight, something else hitting the ground with it.

"What the..." Kagome tried to get around Inuyasha to investigate, but as the light blinked out, he refused to get up. She freed an arm to rub at her eyes. _God, I must've been out of it. Thought his hair almost looked black against the light... _Newfound fear seemed to have solidified Inuyasha's thinking, though, and Kagome found herself confined. She exhaled shortly. "Fine, then. Hey, who's out there?"

Inuyasha growled, but did nothing to stop her calling out again, especially as a familiar voice replied from the ladder, "Kagome-chan! What on earth...?"

"We're fine, Sango-chan," Kagome assured her, tracking her friend by sound as the slayer climbed up and into the treehouse. "I think we owe you one, too."

"Don't thank me. I'm to blame, too, for falling for its tricks." Sango sheathed her katana; Kagome heard her grunt, something snapping in two, and the pieces falling to the floor. "I was right about the servant. She must've been another form, or perhaps another doll entirely, but there are no servants with injured legs at the castle. She made up both messages to separate us."

"What servant?"

"I'll explain later, Inuyasha," Kagome said wearily, wriggling a little as Inuyasha's body heat began to overstep the bounds of comfort, spurred by both their scares.

"Not wise, girl."

"Kikyou?!" Inuyasha started to lift himself off Kagome, then remembered that it was still completely dark, and felt relief _and_ anger when she slipped out from underneath anyway. "What're you..."

"She saved your lives, Inuyasha," Sango said heavily. "The houshi-sama is out with Kirara to check for more of them, but Kikyou-sama saw you being attacked and found me trying to figure out what Kohaku could've wanted when he was asleep."

"Purification does not work against the kugutsu, only physical weapons at their source," Kikyou said calmly. "I thank you for the service, taijiya. Please leave us and stand guard outside."

"As you wish." Sango was more than glad to get away from the dead priestess, though she would've liked to stay for Kagome's sake. _If anyone can deal with her, I suppose it'd be Kagome-chan... _She half-smiled, bowed out of habit to the darkness and leapt easily to the ground. _Good luck, my friend. ...Oh, and you, too, Inuyasha._

Kikyou rather graciously put their curiosity out of its misery right off the bat. "More than ever, after tonight, I _know _it was one of those creatures who was responsible for my death." She paused, evidently approving of her audience's restraint. "The kugutsu are created out of mud, wood, magic, and a single strand of Naraku's hair. Knowing him, he may very well have created more than onebefore his death, able to be activated by a follower or even any demon powerful and clever enough to determine how to control it. The work was already done—it needed only to be activated.

"When I came into contact with the bound youki in the boy's weapon, I realized that the feel of it – of that monster's power in thatcurtailed form– was _much _closer to what I felt just before I was struck down than Inuyasha, whom I can still recognize leagues away." Kagome almost thought she picked up a little affection there, and suppressed a flare of jealousy. She didn't miss a slight pause, either, and winced. The priestess had to be wondering why that familiar youki was missing tonight. _What'm I saying? Hell, she probably figured it out years ago._

"So what happened? To each of you?" Kagome asked aloud. "When I saw your memories, Kikyou, they were nothing like what Inuyasha told me."

"I was trying to find Inuyasha and admit that I had spoken in haste..." For the first time, Kikyou faltered. "As I approached the Tree, I saw a demon at a small distance. I went towards it and started to aim my bow, but...I was...struck down, from behind."

Kagome shuddered, trying not to remember that awful dream...the pain in her flesh and torn muscle, the sight and stench of blood everywhere, the heartache...

"That's not what happened, Kikyou!" Inuyasha protested. "I was trying to kill the centipede, and you came out of nowhere and got in the way of my last attack!"

"When have I _ever _blundered into the path of danger like an amateur, Inuyasha?" Kikyou snapped. "Did it even smell like me?"

"Yes, actually, it did!" Inuyasha snarled. "And I smelled your blood, too!"

Kagome started. "Wait—Kikyou, I remember seeing...it was almost like there were two Inuyashas, the one that attacked you and laughed about taking the Jewel, and then the real one, where..." She couldn't finish that thought. There was no need. "Well, what if there were two of the doll things, one wearing Kikyou's clothes or something with her smell on it, and the Inuyasha oneattacking you sothe real Inuyashasmelled your blood at the same time and wouldn't think about how far away it was?"

"Sounds like a helluva stretch..." Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably.

"No, she makes sense, sadly enough."

Kagome took advantage of the dark and flipped the priestess off for a very satisfying moment.

"Just as you smelled my blood, I sensed you," Kikyou continued, "but the pain and shock prevented me from realizing you were too far away to have done it. Only now do I know what that small, foreign element was....Then I went to the Tree, and you killed the centipede, followed what you believed was me, and found me lying there."

Silence descended, thick and pervasive as each thought around the theory and tried to find fault.

No sound could have startled or creeped Kagome out any more than Kikyou's sudden laugh. "You were right along, Kagome," the priestess said darkly. "However did you know? You couldn't have put this information together alone, or even with both parts, as you were unaware of the kugutsu."

"I just had a hunch that Inuyasha wasn't the lover-killing type," Kagome said shortly.

"...Right." Kikyou was silent for a few moments. "I was never aware of his using the kugutsuin forms other than his own. It must have been residual power from the Jewel, as I seem to remember he possessed it briefly before I began to purify it."

"He had it for a while?" Kagome repeated, shuddering at the thought. _Ewwww...so, either one of his cronies is pulling the strings, or his spirit's around because it was buddies with the Jewel?...No, she would know if the Tree was some kind of halfway house for ghosts..._

"Briefly. Long enough to gain sway over large parts of the countryside, make a nuisance of himself, and create several offspring from his own body. The daughter of one such offspring and Inuyasha's own half-brother seems to have become a regular visitor here."

Kagome nodded slowly. "I gotcha. So, what about the curse, then?"

She heard and felt Inuyasha grunt. "What the hell kind of question is that?!"

"Peace, Inuyasha. And peace between us, for a time." They couldn't hear or see Kikyou 'rise,' but her voice indicated an exit. "I leave you now, and trust you will do nothing to dishonor me or your guest, Inuyasha." Unseen, she smiled grimly at Inuyasha's incoherent protests. "Good night."

* * *

Neither of them felt quite safe anywhere after that; but, as moving was even less safe than staying, and because it was still the new moon, they agreed to just stay in the treehouse till morning. Though it was not stated as such, they also gravitated to opposite sides of the little roomonce they discovered there was nothing in the room left to eat and bedtime approached.

"Hey...Inuyasha," Kagome said sleepily. "What was your dad like?"

Inuyasha stiffened out of his near-comatose stage. He'd been on the cusp of asking her the acknowledged Closing question, too. "Big. Looked kinda like Fluffy, but not as snobby. Most powerful demon I've ever met. And by 'met,' I mean I got to stand within fifty feet of him...maybe ten times in my life. More like five or six."

"Did you ever talk to him?"

"Hell no.What would I say? 'Hey, old man, tell the cooks to quit poisoning my food, 'cause they're wasting their time'? 'Aren't you glad I'm distracting your wife from paying attention to you and the castle?' Or maybe, 'Good job training Sesshoumaru. I think his backhand's getting stronger every day—'"

"Okay, okay, I get it." Kagome wasn't sorry she'd brought it up, though. In fact, she was a little amazed at how easily he'd coughed it up.

Inuyasha debated telling her about Kouga, long and hard, as he had been all day. _What can she do about it now? He'll ask her the next time she...does that talking thing anyway. _Besides, those remarks about him still rankled. They _did _kind of have a point, even if Kagome kept insisting it wasn't his fault...hell, they'd even figured out that he really hadn't killed Kikyou at all. That gave him a nice excuse to try and drop the guilt he'd been carrying – even if it did nothing for the sorrow – and fill the space with rage at whoever planned this and used those fucking dolls. He'd never seen one up close before, hence his mistake earlier—

"I do miss Mom, though."

"Huh?" Inuyasha's ears would've pricked up, had they been in the normal place. _That's right, he said they blamed her for her death? What the hell? _"You never finished your story, either. You know, that big damn scar on your back?"

"Thanks for putting it so delicately," she snapped. Inuyasha kicked himself heartily. _Good one! Throw it in her face after she proves you really didn't kill the love of your life! _"There's not much to tell after that."

"Well, go back before she died, then," he said stubbornly.

"How she lived?" Kagome laughed. Inuyasha's foot twitched. _Would Kikyou's laugh have sounded like that if she'd lived...? _"You've seen a little of what my family's like. It used to be a lot saner, when Mom was still holding it together. She was the one person Akemi and Nabiki didn't talk back to."

"Can't imagine why she married your dad, then," Inuyasha mumbled.

"Jerk." Kagome made a rueful noise. "He was poor and, no, not very bright, but she loved him anyway. _That _was why, you nincompoop." Inuyasha snorted, and Kagome shrugged. "She said things like that all the time. 'As long as you know him, you love him, and you enjoy the thought of waking up next to him when you're both old and smell funny, the rest is downhill.' Or something along those lines, anyway. She did tell us all not to be spineless, though."

"I never would've guessed _that _one."

"Shaddup. You're just jealous that she could spout advice and people would actually listen to her."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sitting even this close to you, one smells a 'No one listens to me!' complex."

"What's a complex?"

"It means you're insecure."

"Am not!"

"Are too, o insecure one."

"What's 'insecure'?"

Kagome suddenly burst out laughing.

"What _now_?"

"Just thought of something else," she said weakly. "Akemi had a boyfriend for a few years, and she was thinking of getting married to him some day because he never argued with her and going out with him was easy. She told Mom about it, and Mom just kind of looked at her and said, 'Well, that's fine, honey, but if two people always agree, one of them's not necessary, right?'"

Inuyasha snorted. "So actually getting along with someone means you're a waste, or that they are?"

"There's a difference between getting along because one person doesn't want to change and getting along because you've talked through your differences and still want to be together," Kagome said loftily.

Inuyasha's ear wanted to flick, but it wasn't there. "Oh, _please_. Did she make you memorize this shit or something?"

"Ah ha! You're getting cranky. Either you need to go to bed, or I hit a nerve."

"...Will you marry me?"

"No, I will not, you cranky person, you. Good night."

"Good night."

Kagome fell asleep soon, but Inuyasha did not. Too much had happened that day: the kitchen, the mirror, that weird game – damn, that had been fun – the calls, the kugutsu and now Kikyou's absolution...thinking about any one of them gave him a headache, much less all together.

_"There's a difference between getting along because one person doesn't want to change and getting along because you've talked through your differences and still want to be together."_

_Because one person doesn't want to change, eh? Shows what she knows. We were both going to change our whole lives._

Unfortunately for his peace of mind, a hitherto silenced voice spoke up. _If she'd just been more flexible about telling my mother, we never would've fought and gotten into this mess in the first place. Hell, it was her whole idea! This _is _her fault!_

Inuyasha waited for the rest to pick up after that lone complaint fell silent. It did, of course, but it was a long time coming, and for the first time in his memory, he wasn't entirely certain of the outcome when his inner dialogue faded to grumbling. Soon he drifted off, mind uneasily full of possibilities he'd always been content to discard lest they clutter up his thinking...till now.

* * *

A/N: Wow. This reeeeally would not get written. My apologies for skipping a week.

Now that that nasty plot stuff's out of the way, let's see if we can't have a little more fun next time, ne? (Only partly kidding!) I'll try to get that up before Thanksgiving, wheeeee...


	29. One Of Those Days

Disclaimer: I used to own Inuyasha. Then I woke up. (pause for laughter so anyone even remotely interested in the idea that I might claim a lucrative intellectual property like the Inuyasha franchise as my own will understand that I am doing no such thing)

A/N: Hoo boy. Big busy ol' week or three around here, with boyfriends, brothers, bronchitis and whatnot coming and going and stuff going on. (Finals, too. Argh.) Here's a big chunk o' chapter for ye…might want to go to the bathroom and get your popcorn before it starts.

(And thanks for the heads-up about the first chapter, Sparky. 'Preciate it.)

...Why for no horizontal rules? Stupid page script thingy...dammit.

**Beast**

**Chapter 29**

When Kagome fully woke, shifting the sleeping bag aside uncomfortably in the small room's stuffy warmth, Inuyasha was already up, staring at the wall. Judging by the substantial light filtering in through the open door, it was almost midmorning, and judging by the way Inuyasha did not acknowledge her save for a twist of the ear, the hanyou was fully back to normal.

"Morning," she said pleasantly, rubbing her eyes on her jacket sleeve and sitting up.

Inuyasha grunted.

"Why, yes, I _am _hungry. Think anyone's still got breakfast in the kitchens?"

Another grunt.

"Why, no, Inuyasha, I _don't_ know what you're thinking. My powers of telepathy must be hibernating. Why don't you fill me in?"

"Keh."

"You're com_plete_ly right, Inuyasha, I—"

"Would you stop that!"

Great. She'd been up less than thirty seconds, and they were already at it. "If you'll stop doing your lobotomy patient impression, sure!"

"The hell is a robotomi patient!"

"It's someone who's had part of their brain removed!"

"_What_!"

"Never mind," Kagome snapped, raking a hand through her hair and grimacing. _Great. When was the last time I washed my hair? Probably looks like birds have been having orgies in it by now… _Unbidden, an image of Kikyou's stupid perfect stick-straight tresses came to mind, and her grimace devolved into a scowl. "Just…never mind."

Inuyasha grunted again as her fingers snagged on a tangle below her left ear and she had to stop to work them free with her other hand. "At least I don't get lost in my own hair."

Kagome said a few very unladylike words under her breath and tried to work the cluster of knots free. "At least I don't pick fights when I _should _be happy."

"Who's the one putting words in my mouth and telling me my brain's missing!"

"I was teasing! The way I've been teasing you for almost two months now, I might add, in case you haven't noticed!" Kagome couldn't believe he was being so standoffish, and her own temper instantly rose to the occasion. "What's your problem? I thought you'd at least be in an okay mood after last night."

"You thought wrong," he said curtly, turning his gaze back on the wall.

"Fine. I'll talk to you later, then." His eyes cut over to her in surprise and irritation as Kagome got to her feet abruptly, ducking to avoid the ceiling, and made her way to the door. Unfortunately, her eyes weren't quite as awake as her mouth, it seemed, and they directed her to crack her left shoulder against the doorframe instead of steering her through it.

"Keh" was all Inuyasha had to say, though his eyebrows knitted together when she cursed softly again and tried to make her way down anyway. "Where're you going? You're gonna kill yourself at this rate. Lemme see your—"

"My shoulder is fine, and I wouldn't want to risk inflicting that big damn scar on you this early," she snapped, evading his half-outstretched hand and clambering down the rope ladder with only a few scrapes and one misstep. _Hell if I'm gonna stay and make myself look any dumber than I already have already. And what is it with the treehouse and my shoulders getting hurt!_

Inuyasha noted something as he made his way to the door and stuck his head out; sure enough, as her feet touched the ground, she looked up to see him smirking at her. "Forget something, wench?"

Kagome collected the remaining shreds of her dignity and crossed her arms, ignoring the pile of some-small-animal droppings – maybe squirrel? – under her sock's heel. "I'll get my shoes later. I'm gonna go see what Sango's doing. See you l—"

"Don't bother. She's sick."

The casual words froze her mid-hauteur. Kagome lowered the foot she'd raised back into the droppings and turned to frown up at him. "How do you know?"

"Eh, I could hear her and three or four other servants come out earlier. Must've been something everyone ate. Bouzu didn't look so great, either."

"And you didn't do anything to help them?" she snapped, fists gravitating to her hips.

"I made sure someone inside took care of it," he snapped right back. His head pulled back into the treehouse, and his next mumble was almost lost to her ears. "What, you think I'd just let 'em puke and crawl back by themselves?"

"Oh," Kagome said lamely. "No, I didn't know. Sorry." _So he left and then came back? _She ducked her head. No wonder he was so irritable; whether the illness was food poisoning or something contagious, it meant potential trouble out the wazoo for everyone in the castle, especially him. Not to mention that, after he took care of that, he'd been sitting in the treehouse with her for who knew how long, brooding about who knew what else, possibly waiting to see if she was sick, too. _And I start nagging him and acting like some token brainless klutz the second I wake up. Good one, Kag. That's exactly what he needs after our little adventure last night._

Almost on cue, like a B-movie flashback but much more vivid, the feel of cool, callused fingers on her side made her twitch reflexively, and Kagome rubbed the spot absently. _Wonder if he even remembers doing that? _With emotions running as high as they had been, plus their little summit afterwards, he'd probably put it out of mind. _Jerk…_

Well, no point hanging around here and making an ass of herself any further. Kagome sighed and started off, wincing as a careless movement of her arm disturbed the shoulder she'd banged on the door. _Ow. _This was _not _going to be a good day.

Inuyasha knew he should've gone after her, especially in light of last night, but the uneasyfeeling that had spurred him into action then was quiet now, and in its absence, uneasy thought rose instead.

First and foremost, as always, was guilt. Sometimes he figured that he'd spent his whole life either pissed at something he needn't necessarily be angry about, or pissed at himself for something he couldn't share with anyone because they'd just tell him he needn't be angry about it.

Come to think of it, maybe that was why he secretly enjoyed fighting with Kagome so much: their sparring gave him a trivial yet legitimate outlet for his energy, and no harm was done…as far as he could tell, anyway. Most of the time – especially lately – she seemed to enjoy it, too…and other times, like now, she just got mad.

Despite himself, Inuyasha had to wonder about it further; he never would've dreamed that one could technically argue with someone, an unpleasant pastime by definition, and yet have fun with it. He had hardly had the chance to find out before, either... Hell, Kikyou had never raised her voice back to him—she just ignored him, or looked at him quietly, and made him feel like a huge jerk. The idea of his priestess putting him in his place by calling him names was unthinkable, of course, almost as unthinkable as trying to imagine her waking up with her hair sticking out in all directions, or walking into doors, or getting caughtin a kugutsu's trap…or letting him kiss her, or touch her skin, or a million other little things he stopped thinking about as soon as he caught himself.

_Damn. _He was getting sick of this. Less than halfway through the night, he'd woken back up from ingrained uneasiness, and when sleep eluded him, he had had little choice but to go back to thinking of Kikyou, kugutsu, and the girl sleeping across from him. By the time his anger at Naraku and whoever else was responsible for Kikyou's death had simmered down into more coherent rumination, he was so intent on his thoughts that the usual dizzying rush of his demon blood returning and his inner ear shifting to accommodate his real ears' placement went almost unnoticed.

Even with the half-welcome distraction of taking care of what'd smelled like minor but distinct illness amongst several of the servants, his mind had had no problem going right back to a jumbled loop of guilt – _shouldn't have touched her again, shouldn't have lost it, shouldn't have tried dumping all the blame on Kikyou _– worry – _whoever's controlling those things is still out there…how the hell did it know about the stupid wolf, and that she'd trust him enough to fall for it, anyway? If Kagome gets sick, too, and that thing comes after her… ­_– back to guilt, a kind of numbness over what could've happened, which slid into cold, gut-knotting fear at the thought of the skewered tree she'd been sitting in front of. Just a couple more inches and—

"Fuck this!" Inuyasha slammed to his feet with enough force to rattle the floorboards, nearly braining himself on the lower slant of the roof. If there was nothing to do in here but sit on his ass and think, he could always find something to do elsewhere.

Of course, nowadays, there wasn't nearly as much satisfaction in the thought of the solitary pursuits he used to be just fine with. _Bouzu's probably babying Sango, and the wolf said he's "studying" somewhere by himself till the reek of sickness goes away. Doesn't leave much fun._

In fact, it only left one real option, which he justified by recalling the nasty sound of her shoulder hitting the wood. _Bet my front fangs she's trying to take care of everyone and won't say a damn thing about it till it swells up bigger than her head. Stupid wench… _He'd better go find her—_not like I have anything better to do. _

Shippou was dying—not of sickness, which couldn't penetrate his undeveloped but naturally sturdy immune system. Heck, he wasn't even sure if he _could _catch a human ailment, no matter how little he was or how severe the disease.

No, Shippou was bored. Very bored. One might even say he was very, _very_ bored, but this would be insufficient.

Oh, the little fox understood perfectly well why no one was paying attention to him: those who weren't sick were either issuing orders, taking them from the head servants who ran the castle's day-to-day housekeeping to those who executed them, or doing chores outside. Kohaku and the other boys were busy chopping firewood to keep the increased need for hot wash-water met, a task for which Shippou was still much too small and wouldn't have wanted anyway. It wasn't like he really wanted to be outside now period, with all the rumors of something unnatural in the castle going around…but that didn't make having to stay out of the way all by himself any fun, either. He'd tried playing with Buyo, but attempting to get the cat up from his sprawl in the middle of the corridor outside Kagome's room was like asking a sleeping drunk to get up and play tag.

A familiar figure came around the corner, and the kit's face lit up. "Kagome!" he squealed, bounding straight up to her and landing safely in outstretched arms. He snuggled deeper with a blissful little sigh. "I missed you last night. What happened, anyway? You don't smell like a monster got you. You smell more like Inuyasha. What happened?"

"One thing at a time, Shippou-chan." Kagome bounced him gently against her uninjured shoulder, letting his affection dissolve some of her bad mood. _Good to know _some_one is happy that I'm here. _She'd also more or less anticipated the questions. "I'll tell you and Sango all about it later. How's she feeling?"

"She's asleep in your bed. She didn't want to, but Miroku said you wouldn't mind, and her futon smells funny, plus she spilled something on it when she was coughing earlier." Shippou's nose wrinkled gravely. "He's still in there. I think he's really worried about her, and he told me to ask you not to come in important and that he'd see you before lunch."

"Gotcha. Thanks for telling me." Kagome tried to keep her worry off her face. _So it's really bad, or he's being overprotective, or both…either way, I still need to get in there sooner or later. Crap._

"Kagome-sama?" A maid Kagome knew slightly paused, stepped around the dozing cat carefully and bowed deeply around an armload of folded clothing, some of it hers. Kagome groaned inwardly. Everyone had learned that moving Buyo did no good: he picked sleeping spots and returned to them with amazing tenacity, regardless of whether humans liked it or not. "Please forgive us for quartering Sango-sama in your room while she's ill, but the houshi-sama was very insistent. He begs your pardon, but if you'd like to use the baths, they've just been refilled…" She proffered the stack.

A bath actually did sound like a good idea. Kagome eyed Shippou – his clothes were fairly clean, remarkably so for a little boy, so he could put them back on afterwards – and took three or four things from the servant's arms at random. "Thank you very much. I know there's a lot of work to do with everyone sick, but could you please bring a fresh futon to my room as soon as it's convenient?"

The maid promised to do so with all haste, and Kagome noted her slightly strained smile as the woman hurried outside, forgetting to return the rest of the things to their respective rooms first. "Is everyone that wound up already?" she asked once they were settled in the steaming tub.

Shippou nodded absently, squirting water up between his tiny hands the way she'd taught him. The sounds distracted him from her slight hiss as the flesh of her shoulder encountered painfully hot water, and that she only half listened to his reply. "Uh huh. Someone said that priestess lady told Sango something about a monster last night, and everyone's saying Naraku's still alive, or something like that."

"It should be okay. Sango killed the monster." Kagome forced her voice to remain light, smiling to convey ease she didn't even remotely feel.

"That's good." Shippou didn't look convinced, and though she quickly changed the subject by flicking water on his nose, Kagome had a feeling that he still wasn't sure by the time they were ready to get out.

She wouldn't have been, either, if she'd kept thinking about it. Ironically, it was her turn to be distracted a moment later, once she toweled herself and Shippou dry, then left him to put his clothes back on. Her own garments gave her significant pause,and she nearly let another volley of profanity loose before she checked herself: _must…not… contaminate fragile young mind any further than we already have…!_

The clothes certainly wouldn't help her to that end, though. They weren't even hers: some perverse twist of chance had made the servants locate and launder – and then led her to grab – one of Akemi's outfits, which Kagome recognized from a shopping trip they'd made not long before her fifteenth birthday. It consisted of red shorts and an admittedly cute white blouse that looked demure enough till one put it on and realized that the sides, tied loosely at the hem, were then slit nearly up to mid-rib, and the loose neckline had a tendency to "accidentally" droop forward, discreetly presenting one's assets much the same way a neon arrow subtly directs the eye. It didn't help that Kagome had exceeded her sisters a while back in certain areas, no matter how much they might rag her about scrawniness, and the novelty of steady meals the past seven weeks had filled her out just enough to enhance the effect.

_Crap crap crap crap crap. _Well, thanks to Akemi's greater height, the denim shorts were almost long enough not to be indecent. Almost. That was something…

Kagome made a face and tried vainly to stretch the shorts longer. There was no way in _hell _she was going to be able to wear this outside. _Crap crap crap—_

"Wow," Shippou said innocently, startling her out of her irate reverie. He sniffed the blouse. "It looks comfy. What're you waiting for?"

_For the chance to beat Akemi into a pulp for dressing like a hooker. _"Uh…" She did have to admit that Shippou had a point. Kagome looked at the shorts again, contemplating how hot it already was outside and how comfortable they probably were. _Hmmm._

...Well...maybe she was overreacting. A strategically placed safety pin would keep her chest from making eye contact with anyone, and the slits weren't too bad so long as she didn't move too much. Not a problem: she doubted they'd be playing Frisbee today. The shorts…well, she'd shown more leg than that before in skirts…_I think…probably. _"Nothing, Shippou-chan." If it proved too tartish after all, she could just locate other clothes and change later.

To her immense relief, as if some higher power was apologizing for the sitcom-esque situation, there was actually a small safety pin tucked into the lining of the shorts' right pocket. The denim felt cool against her almost-sweaty legs, and Kagome slid on the blouse with only minimal hesitation, smiling at Shippou's compliments as she did a couple of discreet tests to check the extent of possible damage in case of exposure – not too bad, since she had one of her more formidable bras on – and pinned the worst of the neckline on the inside, leaving only a tiny thread of silver visible in front. She bent over experimentally to scoop Shippou up, watching herself, and smirked when nothing was revealed. "You like?"

"You look weird," he said candidly, giggling as she tweaked his nose and dug her fingers into his ribs through the furry vest. "No! I mean that in a good way! It's really good weird!"

"If you say so…" Kagome arched an eyebrow at him, then tossed her head. The motion reminded her that her hair was still in considerably disarray, but she wasn't inclined to ruin the bathwater by washing her hair in it or create a sudsy mess all over the tiles of the cleaning area. _Eh. I'll do it at the river later. _She twisted most of the bird's nest into a loose bun and gave it a pat, satisfied for now. "Shall we?"

Shippou nodded, and she settled the kit in her arms comfortably, sparing her shoulder a discreet glance. The blouse just barely covered a slowly darkening bruise, but was light enough not to irritate the chafed skin where her collarbone met her shoulder muscles. It ached considerably less already, she noticed as they left the steamy bathing room, of which she definitely approved.

She was less appreciative of a large stain on the floor almost directly in front of their room, though. They came to a halt a safe distance away and stared, as if the mess would go away if they looked at it long enough.

It soon became apparent that their strategy had a key flaw, in that it wasn't going to happen. "Ewwwww," Shippou said aftera long pause, and covered his nose with both hands. "I think Buyo had too much to eat this morning." The four-legged blob was nowhere in sight, which confirmed his guilt: his naps usually lasted all day.

"Great…" How did animals know just when to lose their lunch? This couldn't have happened _before _she'd bathed and gotten cleaned up, of course…

Shippou's disgust turned to curiosity as she put him down, hurried back to the baths, found a bucket, and returned with hot water and a slightly used cloth. "What're you doing?"

"I can't ask the servants to clean up _my _cat's mess when they're all so busy," Kagome said ruefully, wrinkling her own nose at the smell. Shippou's eyes bulged as she dropped to her knees and dipped the cloth into the water. She glanced up and caught his expression. "Yes, I know I'm not supposed to, but I've been cleaning for years, and this isn't the first time Buyo's left me a present. Go watch and make sure no one comes and has to smell it, okay?"

"Okay…" The kit looked at her doubtfully, then shrugged and trotted down the corridor to the more-traveled end, disappearing around the corner.

Kagome made a face and held her breath. _This never gets any easier… _Thinking firmly of roses and sunshine, she mopped it up as quickly as possible and dunked the sodden, disgusting towel back into the bucket, half-running back into the baths to dispose of it, also as soon as humanly possible, and exhaled shortly.

"There we go," she murmured, kneeling again to inspect the patch of now-clean floor. Then she frowned, examining the wood more carefully. The clean spot was already fairly conspicuous in the midst of dirt and dust tracked by the unusual volume of traffic, as this passage could be used as a shortcut between the kitchen and the laundry area outside. Servants usually kept the area scrupulously clean so as not to offend her, but today…

Kagome frowned, mulled it over, and headed back to the baths on an impulse. As long as she was quick and Shippou did his job, she could help out a bit without having to endure Sango's or – God help her – Inuyasha's lectures about dirtying her hands. _Nothing wrong with wanting to clean your own home, and this place is already as much a home to me as the shrine, _she reasoned as she set to work. _I'll just do this real quick._

Oddly enough, after a few nervous moments, Kagome caught herself almost enjoying the chore as she wiped the gleaming wood and dunked the cloth, squeezing it out and repeating the action every few feet. Her knees offered only token complaint, and it occurred to her halfway down the corridor that Mark Twain definitely had a point: however much she had disliked doing the floors at home, now that she was not only not required to, but _discouraged_ from doing so, she found that the simple task was downright pleasant.

She couldn't help humming a little, chuckling to herself at the utter weirdness of the human mind. _Mighty thin line between work and play…well, _she surmised, pausing for breath and checking her blouse's safety pin again, _it makes sense. If someone tells you not to, it's got to be fun by default, even if you've been doing it for years and it sucks. Otherwise we'd never do anything we're not supposed to, and we'd all drop dead of boredom. _She winced at a twinge from her shoulder and switched the cloth to her right hand, pursing her lips thoughtfully. _Maybe housework gets a bad rap. I mean, someone's gotta do it, and if you're doing it so someone else won't have to, what's wrong with that? _

Of course, there were exceptions – Kagome devoutly hoped that Akemi and/or Nabiki had been cleaning up after themselves in her absence…and if they thought she'd return to maid status when she got back, they had another think coming – but she thought she understood now why her mother hadn't gone insane staying at home all those years instead of getting a job. _I guess, so long as you _choose _to spend all that time cleaning up and helping people you love, that's as much satisfaction as any job. _She yelped and shook her hand as a splinter jabbed her thumb. _Not to mention stress. _Conversely, she knew that the second someone ordered her to clean the floors, themenial labor would instantly lose any philosophical charm she'ddecided it possessed.

Her bemusement didn't translate to unhappiness, though, and Kagome caught herself starting up one of the tunes she'd sung in the kitchen not too long ago, an easygoing American pop song with lyrics she liked immensely. Yusaku's friends had been supplying him with burned copies of downloaded music for years now, and he was good about bringing them back from the city and sharing. The range of stuff he'd gotten was pretty decent, too: pop for Akemi, heavier rock for Nabiki and Ataru, and anime themes for Souta, who missed cable TVstill and never ceased lamenting his lack of knowledge of really popular shows, like the alchemist one he saw ads for sometimes in Yoshio's weekly paper.

Kagome was the only other one in the family with any real interest in learning more than curse words in foreign languages, so she usually got American or English-speaking groups' songs andkept her skills from dulling too much by memorizing verses and ensuring that she understood them—like the chorus she broke into quietly now, almost under her breath, as she wrung the cloth out and scrubbed at a little patch of mud that had somehow been missed before the floor's last waxing. "If you want to, I can save you, I can take you away from here…"

She snorted. _How appropriate. _But, despite herself, she continued singing as she scrubbed. "So lonely inside, so busy out there, and all you wanted was somebody who cares…" Blech. _Change of subject, me._

Almost on cue, a mental image popped up…which Disney movie was it with the girl scrubbing the floor and singing, with the pretty soap bubbles and an evil cat messing everything up after the number was over? Snow White? No, she corrected herself with another chuckle, it was Cinderella. She'd felt so sorry for her when she first saw that part as a little girl that she'd asked her mother on the way home if they could get rid of their floors—not get carpet or new tiles, necessarily, but get rid of the floors entirely, so it could never happen to anyone in their house. _Ah, to be that dumb again. Must be like being Inuyasha. _…Well, maybe that was a _little _harsh…

Kagome couldn't resist a wry smile. If this was a fairy tale, she was more of a Bizarro-Cinderella: taken from a life of willingly serving her family, cruelly forced to be waited upon and forbidden to clean, even after herself. _I doubt Cinderella ever called her prince a fuzzy asshole, either. Bet she didn't even say anything when Prince Charming stopped wearing deodorant and got a beer gut a few years after the wedding. Her loss… _

She couldn't imagine being _or_ being married to someone that bland. Come to think of it, that was probably what had bothered her so much about Houjou. Sure, he was nice, but talking to him was about emotionally and intellectually stimulating as watching her fingernails grow.

_If only Inuyasha could develop something even remotely like sensitivity, he'd be perfect. …Nahhh, then he wouldn't be himself. Maybe if he could just not pick at me on days like today, develop a sense of timing—_

Her only warning was a swiftly muted squeak at the corner behind her, and then Inuyasha's strangled voice hissed at her. "What do you think you're doing! Get your ass up! _Now_!"

Kagome gritted her teeth. Deliberately, without raising her voice or her head, she kept scrubbing and said, with every shred of pleasantness she could muster, "I'm almost done, Inuyasha, and unless you want everyone in the castle to come see, I suggest you shut up. M'kay?"

Inarticulate growls answered her. Heart thundering, Kagome made sure the last of the dirt was off, willing her palms to quit sweating at the scare he'd given her. "There. Done." It was only when she sat back on her feet and half-turned to meet his enraged gaze that she realized how far she'd been leaning over when he turned the corner, plus short shorts…

Kagome's face flamed, and then grew hotter somehow, and she tugged at the denim self-consciously as he advanced down the hall towards her. "I didn't think you were gonna come in so soon."

"Yeah, well—" Inuyasha stopped at Shippou's whine of protest. He glanced down at the kit, whose tail was dangling from his white-knuckled grip, and dropped him with an unceremonious thud. "Hell of a sentry you got. He was coming back from the kitchen just as I got here."

"Yeah? Well, how long were you watching her, then?" Shippou shot back.

Inuyasha snarled and drew his foot back warningly; the little fox shrieked, leaped for the safety of Kagome's arms as she held them out, and burrowed into her shoulder. The hanyou scowled as Shippou clutched tighter and she cringed, shifting him away from the sore spot as he wailed, "I was just hungry and I thought you were done and went to see Sango without me! I'm sorry Inuyasha was peeping at you and I—"

"It's okay, Shippou-chan," Kagome said tightly, holding him with one arm and gathering up her cloth and bucket with the other. She narrowed her eyes at Inuyasha, whose glare sharpened. "Let's just forget about it and not fight about something this pointless, okay?"

"I don't think making yourself look like that is exactly _pointless_, wench," Inuyasha said with exaggerated patience.

"Oh? Look like what?" Kagome tried to will the words back into her mouth a half-second later, but it mysteriously failed to work, and she flushed darker instead. "Everyone's busy, Inuyasha, and I was just trying to help out a little. If anyone had come by, I'd have just—" She bit her cheek. _Calm down, happy thoughts…_

Too late. Her temper flared, and she stepped forward wrathfully at his crossed arms and warning look. "Look, I don't have to justify myself to you! If my helping out or my sister's fashion sense or my bad luck or my _stupidity_ offend you that much, that's _your_ problem, and I'll be damned if I let you make _me _feel any worse because of it!"

"What…!" Inuyasha almost gaped at her. What the hell was "fashion sense," and where did her sister come into it? And where had this explosion come from! He was the one who had a reason to be mad, dammit! "I've explained a thousand damn times that this's what the _servants _are for, and you trying to do their work insults you, me, _and _them, 'cause you're telling 'em they're doing a shitty job! And how the hell are they supposed to respect you if you're squatting in a corner half-naked and I just let you do whatever the hell it is you were doing? Do you have any idea how _stupid_ that makes you look!"

His voice had been steadily rising throughout despite Kagome's increasingly murderous expression, but as the echoes of his last shout died away from the corridor, the blood drained from her face as swiftly as it had rushed there moments ago. The flood of anger and embarrassment assaulting his nose died off, lingering for the barest of seconds as Shippou took one look at her and leaped down, scrambling away for safety. It occurred to Inuyasha, in the far-off and dusty corner of his mind not aroused by anger or the sight that'd presented itself so unexpectedly a minute or three ago, that the kit was probably wise. If she'd been angry before, Kagome was **_really _**not happy now.

The rest of his brain was treated to this fact momentarily, as a renewed wave of rage and something like embarrassment but much worse slapped against his nostrils, a split second before Kagome dropped the bucket, leaned back, and hurled the towel straight at his head.

Inuyasha ducked reflexively, and the sopping wad of cloth missed Miroku's head by inches as he slammed the shoji closed behind him.

One more good look at the scene, and Shippou decided quickly to make himself scarce, unnoticed. _Wonder what's happening outside!_

Meanwhile, girl and hanyou glared at the interruption—and blinked and gulped, respectively, as the normally levelheaded monk grabbed Inuyasha's elbow roughly, dragged him down the corridor towards Kagome, and jerked his head at her rudely to follow as they passed. She deemed it wise to do so, and they went past the bathhouse and came to a halt on the balcony outside, where several laundry servants stopped their work to gape at the trio.

Miroku didn't even spare their audience a glance over the shoulder. Instead, he nearly slammed Inuyasha against the wall, and his stormy expression told Kagome quite clearly that only ingrained respect and cultural strictures kept him from doing the same to her. She suddenly felt like a teacher had caught her fighting at school. _Maybe I should say, "He started it!" and see if he buys it…_

Inuyasha could have smelled the young monk a mile off, and he realized with an inaudible groan that he kind of already had: that last moment before Kagome threw the towel, that'd been Miroku's anger-scent from his left, not Kagome's. He frowned slightly. _So then hers was just—_

"I have the utmost respect for you, Inuyasha, despite your glaring faults," Miroku said curtly, snapping both of them to attention.

The servants went about their normal business as hard as they could, as if every woman wasn't holding her breath and listening with every fiber of her being.

"I've refrained from chastising you for picking fights at every turn, Inuyasha, shouting to hear your own voice and hiding behind your wounded feelings as an excuse not to treat others decently, especially others who treat _you _better than anyone so rude deserves."

Inuyasha's eyes slitted. "Now, you wait one—"

"No, Inuyasha, _you_ wait!" Faster than any mortal should be able to move, Miroku had an ofuda out and ready, pointing directly between wide ruby eyes. "The next time you get into a stupid argument, you will wait and _think _about where you are, and if you disturb Sango again before she's fully recovered, I'll carve your tongue out myself and hope it teaches you some manners. Understand?"

Kagome could've sworn she heard dust settling. Not for long, though, as Miroku, without moving his body, glanced at her coldly. "Kagome-sama, as admirable as your patience with this moron is, one would have thought you would have better judgment than to get into a fight where Inuyasha actually has a point, much less do so when your friend is just falling asleep after several hours of being very ill, partly with worry for you." Kagome flinched, and Miroku softened just a bit. "There is no justification for my rudeness, but I daresay if you're willing to forget about this, I am as well, particularly if it means peace and quiet around here."

"No, you're right," Kagome said quietly. Painfully aware of covert scrutiny from the women scurrying to and fro a few feet away, she bowed shortly. "I'm sorry. Please tell Sango I'll be in later to say hi, if she wants. If you'll excuse me…"

Instead of slipping out right away, and against her better judgment, Kagome risked a peek at Inuyasha, and her heart constricted painfully: he was scowling at her, probably wondering why she was giving in to being scolded instead of defending their right to argue, and giving in _now _of all times. It was the cement truck that broke the camel's back, and she grabbed for an image of the first place she could, desperately throwing herself there without further thought.

"My." Miroku lowered his arm, bemused out of his irritation as the women whispered excitedly. "That confirms our theories about her power."

"You self-righteous _asshole_!" Inuyasha had their positions reversed and an iron grip on the monk's throat in half a breath. The servants vanished like frightened quail, scattering to leave them alone in the small yard. "Why the hell did you have to do that in front of everyone!"

"To embarrass you," Miroku said severely, and they locked eyes. He refused to move as the sides of Inuyasha's claws dug into his neck, or to acknowledge one of the deepest growls he'd ever heard out of the half-breed. "I was angry and frustrated, and as I said, I have no excuse for it. You know that's not why Kagome-sama left, though."

Inuyasha bared his fangs, then clicked his jaws shut before he could do anything stupid or permanent with them. "I _don't _want to hear you blame it on _me_!"

"You never want to hear anything you don't like, you stupid bastard!" Miroku rasped, slipping out of his usual urbane manner and into the one he reserved for collecting debts, extortion, and dealing with anyone who made him exceedingly angry in general. His confinement in the castle had also imprisoned that persona—till now. "It's not my fault you lost it again! Why didn't you just call her a worthless whore and save yourself some breath?"

Only long-held discipline and self-control kept Inuyasha from tightening his grip and accidentally crushing his friend's windpipe like paper. He released him and struck a yard-wide hole in the stone wall next to them instead, forcing himself to step away lest Miroku push him any further. "Don't you _dare _pull that holier-than-thou shit on me now! You'rethe one who dragged us out here and chewed our asses in public, and unless my hearing's suddenly as crappy as yours, you told her I had a point!"

"I said that without thinking that she's probably smart enough to already _know_ you had a point, and in case your memory's as screwed up as your reasoning, _you_ crucified her for doing a chore she _wanted _to do instead of dragging Sango out or giving someone else busywork! You were right that she shouldn't've been doing it, but you treated her like she got caught in bed with three of the servants instead of cleaning!"

A beat of thick silence. Miroku smiled thinly as Inuyasha's ears flattened. Both gestures betrayed extreme tension, even as Inuyasha affected disinterest and the monk lowered his voice to a mock conversational tone. "Let me guess—did your bitching at her have anything to do with how her ass looks in those clothes?"

The next thing Miroku knew, he was about two feet off the ground, pinned to the wall by an even tighter grip on his throat. No sound escaped his lips, but Inuyasha could still read them through a haze of frustrated rage: _That's what I thought._

"Very funny, bouzu." Inuyasha reminded himself again that he could not, must not and would not kill the monk…even if the stupid pompous hypocrite was full of crap and had it coming. "Almost as funny as you going mother-hen apeshit over Sango and then staring at Kagome's ass the next second. It would've been funnier when you were still screwing around—assuming you're not anymore now that Sango's laid up."

…_Oops. _Miroku's deadpan smugness vanished with no trace, and in its place was a look Inuyasha had never seen on his friend's face before. Deliberately, the monk eased one hand up and jabbed the arm suspending his body with two ofuda at once, forcing Inuyasha to let go with a string of curses. "OI! What in all the hells is wrong with you! If you hadn't hit my sleeve, it mighta taken my hand off!"

The monk snapped a suggestion regarding what Inuyasha could possibly do with his own severed hand and other soon-to-be-severed parts, rendering it so colorful and detailed that the hanyou blanched and backed off a few more steps. Few people knew just how bad Miroku's temper really was; Inuyasha had become one of the privileged by experience, and survival instincts were starting to kick in as he realized that, angry as they both were now, the human was the one about to lose it. Inuyasha was almost physically ill just from the smell.

He held up his hand, irritable but conciliatory. "Okay, I went too far, bouzu, but you've had a burr up your ass all day. Even you've gotta admit you started it."

"Sango was poisoned."

Inuyasha was sure he'd misheard for a second, even though mishearing was a luxury his ears had enjoyed very, very few times. "She was _what_!"

Miroku took a long breath and let it out slowly. A single muscle jumped in his cheek. "She was too ill too quickly. I checked her breakfast and found several large grains, fallen to the bottom of her rice bowl. When I checked the food served the others who were ill, the most anyone else had was half of half what had been put in Sango's. If not for that, I would say it had been accidental, but…"

The return of Miroku's calm façade was not contagious. Almost before the words were out, Kohaku emerged from around the nearest corner, nearly running straight into them in his urgency. "Are you sure, houshi-sama?" the boy gasped, tugging his sleeve and then dropping it with a mumbled apology.

"There was no way to mistake it," Miroku said heavily, nodding slowly at Inuyasha's disbelief. "It's some type of herb. Kaede recognized a stimulant that can cause severe heart problems if taken in excess. I put the bowls away safely if you'd care to look yourself. If you or Kagome-sama had been inside for breakfast, there might have been some in yours as well."

"Who would want to poison her?" Kohaku demanded shrilly, freckles standing out baldly as the color drained from beneath them. "Ane-ue hasn't hurt anyone!"

"Revenge," Inuyasha mumbled, shoving his hands into his sleeves. "Bet you anything it's one of the puppets left over. Sango killed one last night, and whoever's controlling them probably didn't like that."

"My thoughts exactly," Miroku agreed, clasping Kohaku's shoulder briefly and giving the boy a tense smile. "Can we trust you not to spread word about it until we've questioned the kitchen servants? The rumors are bad enough as it is."

Kohaku nodded, ducking his head miserably. "I just can't believe…"

"We'll catch whoever did it, kid, so don't start lighting incense yet." Inuyasha caught Miroku's hand twitching. _Ha ha, can't whack me this time. That's what you get for forgetting your damn stick for once, bouzu. _

Galvanized by their distress and his own irritation that someone would screw his life up even further by indirectly attacking one of his friends on top of everything else he had to deal with now, Inuyasha split up with them at Kagome's room and headed for the kitchens, mind churning darkly the whole way. _If it was a puppet, maybe someone saw something, or I'll be able to smell one there and nail the fucking coward before it can hurt anyone else, maybe Kagome next time… _Just the thought made him want to start taking heads off.

After he showed them the dark, bitter-smelling grains he'd found in the food bowl, Miroku had halfheartedly offered to join him in questioning the servants. However, Inuyasha wasn't feeling up to having a rational influence around – not that the monk was much better than he was right now – and had had little trouble getting him to stay with Sango instead. Inuyasha doubted anything would come after her directly now, but there was no point taking risks.

_Speaking of which…_ He hesitated. _Should I go find Kagome?_ …No, maybe it would be better if she didn't know about this till he found the culprit; if _he _didn't know where she was, the odds of anyone else locating her were pretty low. Besides, he'd have enough trouble finding out what her problem was – or, more accurately, what he had done now – without telling her she might have to have all her meals tasted first from now on.

In retrospect, and considering his foul mood, Inuyasha was rather surprised at how smoothly it went: a few orders to collect everyone who had been in the kitchen at all since breakfast preparations had started; a few sniffs around the kitchen for the scent of that bitter herb, kugutsu, perhaps lingering fear or guilt; and a few minutes of terse questions as to what had gone into the food, whether anyone not usually seen in the kitchens had been in there, and whether anyone had any knowledge of herbs beyond cooking, was all it took to ascertain that no one had knowingly put anything in anyone's food that morning. The possibility of highly experienced cooks and servers mistaking a pungent, hard-to-find herb powder as seasoning seemed downright unlikely, too, and as no one was giving off any scent worse than uneasiness and slight fear of him, Inuyasha was forced to conclude that they were telling the truth and leave a lot of very bewildered people to go about their business.

_Great. _Inuyasha turned the facts over and over, trying to see where a puppet could've gotten into the kitchen. Sango always came and got her own meals, which meant that the overdosed serving had been intended for her. Even if a kugutsu had borrowed someone else's clothes, he bitterly reflected, _this _time he knew to look for Naraku's scent, too, and he would've been able to detect it even under all the cooking odors with the way he'd been straining his nose. Hell, he even dropped to all fours and sniffed the paths leading to and from the kitchens and storerooms, hoping to catch a whiff of the thing's feet, which would be thinly covered and betray its scent; to his relief and disappointment, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Kohaku and Miroku were playing a quiet, two-person card game when he reported as much back in the room; Sango was still deeply asleep, and until Kaede came back in with a second dose of something she thought might act as an antidote, there was nothing to do but stay quiet and sit there. Inuyasha quickly grew bored with trying to figure out the game's rules, was shushed when he tried to say as much, and left the room in quiet irritation. _Now, where the hell did she go…?_

Though he hated to admit it, he was initially relieved when his search of the second and third floors turned up no Kagome, and when he couldn't smell her immediately outside. Inuyasha was _not _looking forward to adding more strife to what was already shaping up to be a pretty shitty day, and the more he thought about their latest fight, the more uncomfortable he got on several levels.

A rare flash of comprehension struck him as he stalked through the woods, and he came to a halt at the realization that he'd behaved like a complete and utter jerkoff. As justified as his anger had been, Kagome also wasn't in the best of moods, and she _had _had good intentions…not to mention the way he'd gotten caught ogling her and then blamed it on her, right before Miroku very uncharacteristically _also_ turned on her, and after the crappy start she'd gotten that morning with her shoulder and her shoes…

Back to guilt. At least his mind was functioning correctly, for all the good that did him.

_Wait…her shoes. Did she go back for 'em?_

It was an excellent guess, but to no avail: the treehouse hadn't been disturbed since he left. _Damn. _There went his streak of sudden intelligence. He'd been doing pretty well there for a while, too.

So, the moral of this story was that she was out here, pissed, hurt, and shoeless, maybe defenseless if anything came after her. Inuyasha's ears drooped just thinking of confronting her now. _Dammit!_

Partly to stall and partly from concern, Inuyasha found one of his favorite trails and set off at a lope, scouting the area for the pervasive smell of Naraku or anything potentially dangerous. Whenever he scented Kagome, he could narrow his search and make sure she stayed safe. _That should make it up to her. …I think. She probably doesn't want to see me, anyway. _Somehow, that felt more cowardly than logical, but Inuyasha stubbornly decided that that would be best. _…I think._

When he did catch her scent near the river and also detected Kaede's presence nearby, Inuyasha firmly ignored a ridiculous, suicidal urge to join them and swung back towards the castle instead. He could always send Kirara to watch them, and besides, there was still the kugutsu around somewhere…

Lunch soon came and went, with no major mishaps and no Kagome. Inuyasha had lost his appetite and watched instead as Kohaku toyed with his food and Miroku ate with an impressive semblance of calmness. Sango was still dead to the world, though, and Inuyasha soon lost interest in them yet again.

The impulse to go talk to Kagome reared its head again as he leapt up both flights of stairs in single bounds, ignoring his usual shortcuts in an effort to occupy himself, and he rejected the idea with more difficulty than before. Knowing her, she was probably working her anger off swimming or something…no, her shoulder would prevent that, not to mention the unlikelihood of her trying to swim in that flimsy white thing—it would be like wearing wet paper afterwards, even worse than the nonexistent "shorts."

…

…That probably wasn't the wisest line of thought, come to think of it. It did distract him from wanting to _talk_ to her, but—

In desperation, Inuyasha headed for the practice room, unsheathed Tetsusaiga, and began practicing as fast, hard and mindlessly as he could, hoping to work off the physical and mental aches and irritations that'd built up over the past few days. After about half an hour of steady work, he was able to stop thinking almost entirely, reducing his entire world to the weight of steel and fang in his hands, the flap of his hair against his back on landings and the mat under his feet, till his stomach growled and he came to with a start. _Almost time for dinner already?_

He sheathed Tetsusaiga, pulled his clothes back on and willed himself outside in the front courtyard, mildly unnerved to see that it was only midafternoon. His stomach had lied to him after all. _Can't trust anything, dammit. _It growled defiantly. _I don't care if you didn't get lunch! Quit your bitching!_

…And he was back to arguing with himself. That did it. Inuyasha sniffed the air, noting that Kagome had been here not too long ago and that her scent was heading back into the castle. _Came back, huh? _Well, he wasn't going to put it off any longer. It wasn't like she could hurt him, anyway…physically…

Gulping, Inuyasha headed inside and towards her room, hand lingering on the shoji. Maybe Sango was still asleep and the otherswere playing cards again…with her tendency to do the opposite of what he expected, maybe she had everyone back to normal and was pounding the bouzu for creative interpretation of the rules. _That'd be just like her, doing it on Sango's behalf while she's out… _A corner of his lips twitched. Before he could start dreading it again, Inuyasha swallowed and quietly went in.

Kagome was seated on her bed, and Inuyasha's ears swiveled back in a reflexive cringe that he just barely kept off his features: she was giving him a melancholy little smile, but her eyes were red, and she had changed into a plain violet kimono. For some reason, he didn't know which was worse. She really had looked cute in the other ones, and it was hot, even inside the castle. "Hey."

Inuyasha nodded shortly and sat down near the door, aware that Miroku and Kohaku were giving him Looks. Sango was propped up in bed, slowly sipping what must have been a vile-tasting potion, judging by her grimaces and the stuff's smell. "Oi. You feeling any better, Sango?"

"Hardly." Sango's voice was a dry croak. Miroku handed her some tea as Kagome took the drained medicine and set it aside. "Please tell me that's all I have to take."

"Kaede said you need three more doses, Sango-chan," Kagome said apologetically. "You should be up and about by the day after tomorrow or so, though."

"Good." The older slayer lay back with a sigh, closing her eyes. "Did you find the culprit, Inuyasha?"

"Culprit?" Kagome repeated blankly.

"No. No one knew anything, and none of them were lying," Inuyasha said tersely. He got up, sick once more of the smell of illness and the feeling of being an intruder. "I think I'll just—"

"We need to talk, Inuyasha." Kagome didn't raise her voice. She rose and nodded to her friend, bowed to Miroku and Kohaku, then stepped forward and rested her hand on his forearm. "Now."

Inuyasha wanted to shrug it off, but the light touch seemed to sink into his flesh, till he was almost afraid to try to separate it. "Feh."

No one was fooled by his indifference, and he was shocked out of it by Kagome leading him gently to the corridor, looking up at him gravely—and they were out on the pavilion, the sun beating down on them and the wind ruffling their hair. Inuyasha's knees went weak, so much so that he almost had to sit down and couldn't disguise it. "What the…!"

"Oh, don't freak out. If I can take myself places, I figured I could drag you along, too. Looks like it worked, and it saved _you_ some work." Kagome released his arm to stroll over to the side. She nearly gave him a second heart attack by sitting down at the very edge of the roof and dangling her legs over the side. "Kaede and I talked for a while."

"Crazy wench," Inuyasha grumbled, settling down in a crouch next to her and watching her sideways lest she do something else unhealthy. "If you fall, don't expect me to catch you."

Kagome made a careless noise, but he noticed with another pang that her hands withdrew into her sleeves as he shifted a smidge closer. She smelled tense and uncomfortable. "Like I said, I talked with Kaede a while. I haven't really talked to her in a long time."

Inuyasha made no reply. The air grew more still, and the sun's assault resumed against their heads and backs as it emerged from behind a few wisps of cloud.

"You know, I don't think your problem is me, or that mine is you…most of the time."

"Huh?" Inuyasha frowned at her. That was more direct, yet more cryptic than the tirade he'd been expecting. Somehow, he rather would've been yelled at.

"You don't like you, so you assume no one else does and you act accordingly—like a jerk. I technically like me, but I'm human, and when I act like an idiot and then get yelled at five million times in a row, I tend to get upset." Kagome let that hang for a moment, then stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, though, the yelling was _your _fault. I guess that means half my problem is me and the other half is you."

"More of this crap? Tell me you have a point." Inuyasha didn't know where this was going, but he definitely didn't like it.

"Kind of." Kagome shifted uncomfortably as sweat stung her shoulder. Inuyasha eyed her hair and wondered how much heat it was attracting, considering his own white mane felt ready to burst into flames already. The uncovered pavilion was ideal for late-night relaxation, but they would bake if they stayed out here too long this time of day. "I got Kaede to tell me about her…family life." Inuyasha stiffened slightly at the implication. "No, actually, Inuyasha, she did have her own family after things went nuts here. She got married when she got older and a new priestess came to the village she was living in.She had a son and everything. He left when he was fifteen, then her husband died and she wandered back here."

"Keh." Inuyasha was surprised, yet not taken too much aback at the idea. Kaede's powers had paled in comparison to her sister's, and she could still function as an herbalist whether she was a maiden or not; once the mild shock wore off, he could even be happy for the little girl who'd come back an old woman so many centuries ago. "So…"

"I know you don't like yourself, Inuyasha, and you know I think it's crap, for what it's worth," she said quietly, and he scowled at the conversational about-face. "People have treated you pretty badly for incredibly stupid reasons. I'm sorry they did, and I understand that you act a certain waybecause of it." Her voice hardened. "But that does _not _give you the right to act the way you did this morning. I've gotten used to most of your quirks, and I even _like _most of them, God knows why, but there's a line between being cranky and being an abusive jerk. You had _no _right to put me down like that just to try to make a point, and you really upset me, too. For crap's sake, you even set Miroku off."

Inuyasha's head was hunched down almost to his chest by this point. Her quiet inflexibility was downright unnerving, but the words neatly punctured every defense he could offer and made apology seem inadequate. He remained silent.

Kagome sighed and flapped a sleeve at her sweaty face in a vain attempt to cool it. She chanced a peek to her right. She had been correct: he must have felt bad to begin with, or he'd be snarling back at her now. Knowing she was right gave her no pleasure. "I'm not going to lie to you, Inuyasha. I'm _sick _of this."

Inuyasha felt a little sick himself. Was she going to wash her hands of him now? Surely she wasn't _that _mad…was she?

"I've been jealous of Kikyou the past…ever since I first saw her, really." Kagome sensed Inuyasha's complete confusion at the new topic, and plowed on. "Just try to imagine this, Inuyasha: you find out that 500 years before you were born, someone who had your face and your soul first was alive…" She wiped her face on her sleeve. "Sometimes I wonder how many people have had this soul. It feels weird knowing a basic part of your being has been handed down through the centuries like an old hankie, and you never know where it's been.

"Anyway, imagine finding out about this person, except…" Kagome swallowed. How much was too much to reveal? "Except everyone tells you that she was basically either an ice queen or perfect, or both, and _then _you find out that she died tragically and…" _And the guy you love is still carrying a torch for her and you know it and you're too stupid to turn your feelings off. _"And it's weird as hell. Even after she got out of my head, sometimes I felt like she – or everyone else around me who knew her – was always watching me and thinking what a loser I am compared to her."

"Don't even _think _of starting that shit up again," Inuyasha snapped, turning to glare at her for the first time. "You're different, okay? Not bad different, just not her. I don't wanna hear it."

"Now you know how I feel when you mention how worthless you are," Kagome said lightly, hoping he would attribute the pink on her face to the sun. She'd been testing him a little, and his instant defense had made her almost lightheaded with pleasure. _Focus, Kag. _She flapped her sleeve again. "I'm gonna let you in on a secret about females, Inuyasha. We don't like ourselves. Period." His scowl deepened. "I'm serious. I don't think it's just a modern thing, either. We're always convinced, deep down, that we're not smart enough, we're not pretty enough, we're not as good as we should be, blah blah blah blah blah. We learn to live with it, but it's always there. Some people it's worse than others, of course, but—"

"What don't you like about yourself, stupid?" Inuyasha seemed torn between exasperation and bewilderment. "Do you have any idea how many people I hate more than you?"

In Inu-ese, that was the nicest compliment she'd ever gotten, and she ducked her head to avoid grinning at him and ruining the effect. "Thank you, but that's just the point. I've never been that jealous of anyone, and it's been wearing on me for a while now. That was partly why I got so upset when you were a jerk earlier."

Inuyasha's ear flicked restlessly. _Holy flaming horse shit, she thought I was serious! _If all this crap was true…well, no wonder women were so damn touchy all the time.

"You're right, in that a million girls would probably be weird enough to want to be in my shoes." Kagome tipped her head back and drank in the endless quiet, the empty sky. "Self-pity is one of the biggest wastes of time I can think of. When Kaede told me more about how a priestess had to live then, and especially with the Jewel…"

Inuyasha's attention shifted from the white curve of her throat to her words. His collar was suddenly a little too tight. "Yeah?" he growled.

"I would've died." He swallowed involuntarily at her simple admission. "Kikyou was an amazing person, but she was human, too, and people aren't supposed to be perfect like that all the time. I know she was dedicated, and she knew her job was important, but… I wonder how many times she looked at the kids, or at the servants, or even your mom, and wished she could be them."

Inuyasha wanted very badly to say something scornful and dismissive, to prove that this wasn't affecting him, but a lump in his throat kept him from even a "Feh."

"Long story short," Kagome said quietly, tilting her head to look at him steadily, "no one's perfect. She wasn't wrong for loving you, and you're not wrong for still loving her. You didn't even get to mourn her very long, did you?"

She was afraid she'd gone too far when his teeth grinding became audible, and she was too close to losing it herself. _I'm not a saint, dammit. That's enough selflessness for today. _"I think…I don't know how everything's going to turn out, Inuyasha. It's only five weeks till the curse ends." His eyes widened slightly. "Yeah, I know. See, I don't know about you, but we can't change the past, right? And we can't do much right now, either. Pretty much all we can do is wait."

Sparrows twittered madly at the other end of the pavilion, where some kind of informal avian caucus had been called to discuss whatever it was that birds talked about. Kagome waited for it to die down, painfully aware of Inuyasha's silence. Had she gotten too personal? Talking honestly was all well and good, but not if he clammed up on her again.

She decided to go for it anyway. "I have a very simple proposal, Inuyasha."

He choked slightly on the choice of words, and she laughed sheepishly. "No, not like that. It's like this—I figure, either I can wallow in 'I'm probably not good enough according to standards I arbitrarily set for myself' while you wallow in 'I'm a good guy with a personality that would kill a sea monster, but I'll just keep snapping people's heads off and feeling bad about it later in a never-ending cycle'…or not."

Blink.

"The 'not' means that we let go of all this angst and just _be _for a while, Inuyasha." Kagome drew her legs up and settled back down kneeling, speaking earnestly as he turned to face her again, face unreadable. "I'm not saying we should forget everything that's happened or go 'la la la la la' when something unpleasant comes up or anything. But you can't keep beating yourself up for…for everything, and I can't keep agonizing over my feelings when it just wears us out. It's not a crime to enjoy yourself once in a while without feeling guilty later…" They both flushed, and Kagome knew he had to be thinking the same thing, that she hadn't been referring to playing Frisbee. "…and with what's happened lately, I think we need to lighten up before we start trying to kill ourselves with our chopsticks."

"What about the kugutsu?" he asked after a moment of tense silence. "One of them put something in Sango's food, Kagome, and we still don't know how the other one knew about the wolf…or the new moon. What if it comes after her again? Or you?"

Kagome's insides went cold. _So that's why she got sick…and that explains why Miroku was so pissed. _"Well," she said tentatively, brushing loose hair behind her ear, "what can we do about it right now? You can smell them, right?" He nodded. "So, if I stick with you, I'm safe, then."

"It's not that simple," he objected, rapping his claws on the roof tiles. "What if another sneaks into the kitchen? Do you want to have to have a taster for the next five weeks?"

"We'll burn that bridge when we get there," Kagome said patiently, and he growled softly. "Please, just consider it, Inuyasha." She forced her voice into a gruff imitation of his. "D'you know how damn depressing it is watching you beat yourself up over shit you've already been forgiven for?"

"Very funny," Inuyasha said for the second time that day. This time, it was without rancor, though, and he offered her a hand without thinking as he got up. "C'mon, Kagome, I'm about to roast, and you've got your own bath in that thing."

"Better than looking stupid in the other outfit," she mumbled out of habit, grateful for the help in getting up on stiff legs.

Her chin was tilted up by the crook of his forefinger, and Kagome found herself looking directly into very irritated red eyes. "It was stupid of you to wipe the floors, but _I _was stupid for yelling at you like that, 'cause you didn't look stupid. Weird, but not stupid. So take your own advice and drop it." A gentle, almost unconscious stroke of his knuckle took the sting out of the curt order.

Warmth flared on her cheeks and made her stomach feel weird; mumbling something appropriate, Kagome ducked her head lest he see how much the tiny gesture had flustered her. _Hoo boy…_

Unseen, Inuyasha watched her curiously, pondering the workings of the female mind in general and how she could see through him like air, yet refuse to believe that she could be just as good as another woman without being anything like her. _Stupid, she's never even connected me mistaking her with Kikyou, and how beautiful Kikyou was…is. ...Was?_

He was treading in dangerous territory again. Best stop now, before he—

That moment was a turning point in Inuyasha's personal history: he suddenly saw, with excruciating clarity, that though his guilt might be well-deserved, he was fucking tired of it. He did still have work to do, but so long as he found Kikyou's murderer and shoved its own head down its throat and then pulled it out its ass…that and the sacrifice he was going to make had to count for something. A _lot_ of something. It wasn't as if Kikyou sat inside his brain and kept score of how thoroughly he punished himself, either, so what the hell was the point?

It wouldn't be accurate to say that all Inuyasha's doubts vanished without a trace; they had lain too long and too heavily on his heart and mind for the impression to be gone so easily. He also had plenty of unfinished business, not the least of which involved sorting out his feelings for this infuriating, presumptuous and utterly captivating woman—but if she wanted to let things be for a while, who was he to refuse her?

Slowly, almost experimentally, Inuyasha placed his curled finger under her chin and directed her back towards him. "Kagome-sama," he said formally, frowning mockingly but almost smiling in bemusement at himself and her breathless surprise, "if you insist on ordering everyone to be happy, I insist that your brain's missing, but it's your problem, not mine." And, to seal the cantankerous little bargain and further throw her off, Inuyasha impulsively leaned down and placed a light fang-grazing kiss on her sweaty forehead. Then, as his pride reasserted itself and wondered what the hell he was doing, he took refuge in her speechless embarrassment, smirked and jerked his head towards the balcony. "You got us out here. So, what would you do if I made you get us back inside?"

A/N: Geeeeeez. Talk about pulling teeth. This one was possibly the hardest to write thus far. Hope I didn't suck it up too badly.

...I was going to have this chapter be a whole week, too...why? WHY can't I shut up?

Anyway, I've got the next one started already, weirdly enough, and if it wasn't for my finals tonight and tomorrow, plus my boy coming back into town tomorrow (Ikky happy dance), I'd guarantee chapter 30 up in the next couple of days. As it is, I promise to really, really try. I'll keep y'all up to date on my profile either way. (Let it be known that any typos, especially run-ons and words mashed together, are ff dot net at work and not me. Look at me older stuff if you don't believe me.) Till then, have fun.


	30. One Of Those Nights

Disclaimer: I have lots of stuff, one non-imaginary boyfriend, and no Inuyasha. Merchandise, yes, inu-hanyou, no.

A/N: Ahhh, what can I say? You people and your reviews make me happy, and so I write a new chappie whilst I wait for my boy to get over the flu. Nearly the whole purpose of thischapter is to satisfy requests in some shape or form…reverse psychology works, guys: if you're nice and cool enough to suggest I take a month off with my boy, I get another chapter up in three or four days. ;D

While I'm here, I would like to protest the charge that I've been bashing Inuyasha, though. The only way I could see that I've done so is how childishly he's acted and the way he's been taken to task for it, and considering how childish he can be in canon, I don't think he'd act very maturely when faced with nothing to do for three months but wait around and sulk all day; nor do I believe the others would be able to put up with him for weeks on end, day in and day out, with no battles to fight or shards to look for as distraction, which is exactly the situation. It's not entirely flattering, no, but I don't believe it qualifies as bashing him, merely as a difference in interpretation—and besides, I'm not done portraying him, nowhere near, in fact. ;) If I've misinterpreted the review, please clarify: this is less "How dare YOU admonish ME, vermin!" (name that quote!) and more curiosity regarding whether I've possibly botched a key point, and I can't decide whether it needs fixing 'less I know I understand what you mean.

And it bears reiterating that I'm not the world's biggest sucker for feedback, but I'm up there; I feel silly for saying so, but I still can't quite believe I'm at 30 chapters already and not even the two-month mark, and you guys haven't revolted. Everyone who's enjoying it, I'm immensely glad, whether you're reviewing or not, though reviews also make me very happy, even con crit, because it means someone cares enough to point out something wrong. (I maintain that spelling mistakes are ff dot net's fault, too. Silly ff dot net.)

-claps hands briskly- All righty then! Let's quit rambling and get to it, shall we?

(Warning! Cavity alert! Partly the fault of Sis, who asked for fluff, which I was already going to put in!)

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 30**

Sango was drinking more medicine at Miroku's insistence, her brother watching anxiously, when the shoji slid open and two very hot, rumpled and flushed people staggered in, nearly flopping onto the floor as one. "Hi, Sango-chan," Kagome said happily, grabbing at a magazine lying open nearby and fanning herself vigorously.

"What?" Inuyasha snapped at Kohaku, who ducked his head in an apologetic bow and ceased staring immediately.

"Did you work everything out?" Miroku's carefully bland tone was offensive in itself, but Kagome chose to ignore it.

"Shove it, bouzu," Inuyasha replied, eyeing the magazine. Kagome switched hands and began fanning him instead. The hanyou snorted, crossing his arms and looking disdainful, then discreetly curved his neck to take advantage of the air hitting his skin. "How's it going, Sango? Not dead yet?"

Sango was also feeling well enough to notice her friend's satisfaction, and she gave Kagome a speaking look – _you're telling me everything as soon as possible _– before answering almost normally aloud, putting the tiny bowl aside. "Better, thank you, Inuyasha."

The atmosphere relaxed noticeably after that, with Miroku dropping veiled guesses as to why they had needed to conduct their discussion outside and where it had taken place, for how long, and so on, till Inuyasha exploded and Kagome had to intervene, though she was quite proud of him for lasting that long.

"Why don't we all eat in here?" she then suggested, without thinking, and cringed as the room fell awkwardly silent. "Um…look, I know what happened, and I'm sorry, but we've all got to eat sometime, and Sango needs nutrition. Can't you just check everything first, Inuyasha?"

After some argument, Kohaku was dispatched to watch the food being prepared, and Kagome tried to think of a way to keep everyone occupied as it grew quiet again. DDR was out of the question, and Sango wasn't even strong enough to hold cards. No, she needed something else, maybe a word game… _Ah ha! _"You guys want to play a game?"

They listened to her explanation of a game she'd learned a long time ago, and though they were more than a little amused and uncertain at the concept, even Inuyasha agreed to play without _too _much fuss. "Miroku-sama, you go first," she said imperiously, and the monk winced.

"If you insist…" He thought about it for a minute, frowning thoughtfully. "First, Inuyasha once fell asleep in his mother's things and was caught drooling all over them."

"OI!" Inuyasha bellowed, and Kagome, laughing with Sango, had to shield the monk to prevent bloodshed. "I told you that was confidential, and the damn things are supposed to be about your own damn self!"

"All life is but part of a greater whole, and thus all are one, and I certainly may—" Miroku held up his hands as Kagome threatened him, too. "All right! My first statement is that I cannot swim." They considered this, and when they deemed it more acceptable, he went on. "Second, I don't particularly enjoy sake, but I enjoy drinking it."

"Good one," Kagome murmured, almost to herself, and Inuyasha snorted.

"And my third…" Miroku's eyes grew distant, and he frowned slightly. "My father's last words to me were to ask for some of his favorite fish from the river, even though he knew I was terrible at catching them." He shook himself and looked around wryly. "Well?"

"I know for a fact you sink like a rock," Inuyasha said flatly. "So that one was true."

Miroku inclined his head. "Yes, you're correct."

"So the first was true. …Incidentally, by 'drinking,' did you mean the taste, or the effects?" Sango asked shrewdly, and the monk quirked an eyebrow at her smugly.

"If that wasn't true, then your father…" Kagome trailed off and fidgeted, grateful for a slight drop in the temperature already. _Guess he's calmed down now… _

Inuyasha looked uncomfortable, and Sango took the opportunity to sip at the medicine again. Kagome glanced at them, then shrugged. "So, was that true, Miroku-sama?"

"No, that was the lie," Miroku said calmly. "He hated fish."

Once the attempts to hit him and laughter died down, he meekly submitted to Kagome's demands for an explanation: "Actually, the last thing he ever did was to tell me to go show my mother a small cave we'd discovered in the woods near our home the day before. He did so because he wanted us to be safely away when his curse broke its bounds and swallowed him whole."

"Oh." What were they supposed to say to that?

Miroku shrugged easily. "Not something I would want to subject my own son to. I'm rather grateful he sent us away. There was nothing we could have done except cause him worry. Now, on with the game."

Kagome sank back on her still-damp haunches, absently hugging the pillow she'd been wielding one-handed against the monk's head. _Sheez, and I thought I had family problems. _"Okay, I'll go next." She hadn't played Two Truths and a Lie in a long time and had forgotten how interesting it could be, especially considering how little she still knew her friends in many respects; even if serious items came up, it was always at that person's discretion, and Miroku's revelation simply meant he was comfortable telling them such a thing. "Uh…"

Shippou slid the door open, yipped happily and scooted into Kagome's lap, burrowing between the pillow and her sweaty kimono. She tweaked his ear lightly and smiled as something came to her. "Before I was born, my dad was so convinced that I was going to be a boy, he called me Souta even after Mom gave birth and they cut the cord."

There was a moment of silence, and then general amusement as it became evident that it was all right to show it. "Your dad's not very smart, is he?" Shippou asked bluntly, and Inuyasha couldn't quite restrain a bark of laughter.

"Second," Kagome said pointedly, sparing Inuyasha a Look, "I had lots of people bother me in grade school – education when you're very young – because they wanted help with their English."

"That's another language, isn't it?" Miroku asked.

Kagome nodded. "Last…" She ran a hand through her hair absently, sorting through the sweat-sticky locks with difficulty. Something came to her, and she rejected it: too personal. "Uh…" Her mind was blank. "Hmmm…"

Inuyasha scowled as she moved her shoulder and grimaced. "Yeah, wench?"

Kagome licked her lips. _Aw, hell, why not? If Miroku can get morbid… _"In this time, your birthday is supposed to be happy 'cause you get presents from your family and friends, but I've hated mine ever since my mother died on my eleventh."

Her matter-of-fact tone couldn't quite cushion that one, and it was a good ten seconds before Sango spoke up. "Didn't you come here on your birthday, Kagome-chan?"

"The night before I turned eighteen, yep." Kagome had almost forgotten about that. Funny that Sango should remember… "And the day we found out that Dad lost all our money was my fifteenth birthday. My twelfth wasn't much fun, either, but nothing as bad as the other two."

"So…" Shippou's little face scrunched up. "You never got any presents this time?"

For some reason, that struck Kagome as extremely funny, and she nearly had to set him down as she doubled up laughing. "No," she gasped, "Shippou-chan…I…did…_not_. I got to come here and scream bad words at Inuyasha instead."

"What kind of things would you have gotten?" Shippou persisted, ignoring Sango's chiding. Kagome was still too amused to reply, and thus she missed Inuyasha's ears swiveling uneasily as he frowned at the floor.

The sound of the shoji sliding open and Kohaku escorting two servants in with several trays of food distracted them; it wasn't till Inuyasha had inspected the food and made Kohaku swear up and down that he'd watched the entire preparation of each dish – made with extra speed and care lest Inuyasha-sama find cause for complaint again – that they settled down and finished the round.

"I think we can safely assume the last is true," Miroku commented, eyeing Sango sternly till she made a face at him and took a small bite of rice. "Forgive me for saying so, but from what I've heard, I doubt the first couldn't have happened, either. Therefore, I believe the information about the other language to be the lie."

"I knew I made it too easy," Kagome complained, feeding Shippou a generous portion of her fish. "You're right, of course. The bits about Dad and my birthdays were true. I did speak English better than most people when I was little, but I never told anyone, or I'd get made fun of too much. It wasn't worth it."

"Really? I had the impression that it was common these days," Kohaku remarked politely but curiously.

"Nope." Kagome swallowed a large mouthful, then continued as she fed the kit. "Culturally, things now really aren't _too _much different from what you guys knew. Women have more legal rights, we dress a lot different, and we've assimilated a lot of Western expressions, technology, and some other stuff, but my being almost fluent in English is the exception, not the norm. Only foreigners or teachers are supposed to be able to speak it."

Inuyasha snorted again. "So you being touchy-feely is just another weird thing you do, and not normal?"

Kagome could've cheerfully slapped him. "If you want to put it that way," she said tartly, favoring him with a glare that made him shrink back. "I think it's your turn, too." She was extremely grateful for the tactful silence, another cultural tendency of which she was very fond.

"Does everyone look this way?" Miroku cut Inuyasha's grumbling off by raising the magazine from where Kagome had dropped it, peering at the glossy pages in the dimming light. "Is she part demon, or do humans change their hair color some other way?"

"It's dyed. The partial coloring is called highlights. It's pretty popular—not that respectable, but if you're young enough, most people let it slide." Kagome set Shippou down, handed him the bowl and slid over to rest her back against the bed, taking the magazine and pointing out various hairstyles. "This is an older issue, three or four years, so I have no clue what's in style now."

Miroku and Kohaku leaned in closer, and Sango craned her neck around, while Inuyasha was torn between gratitude that the game was forgotten and irritation at having to either lean over or be left out. Kagome figured as much, and didn't really care. _Jerk. "Touchy-feely" pffft. Who was touching who last night, huh? _"See, this page advertises jewelry, like rings, bracelets, necklaces, chokers, earrings…"

"Do you have any of these, Kagome-chan?" Sango wanted to know.

"Some old ones I never wear, yeah…a ring, a couple of bracelets and a watch." Kagome tapped one floridly colorful ad, drawing their eyes away from the candy pieces and elephants in the background and towards the pretty, miniskirted model's exposed neck. "That's called a choker. They're a little uncomfortable at first, but I always liked them."

"Keh! You like the idea of wearing a collar?" Inuyasha had stood up and casually leaned over them to see the page. "Is that why the girl's head is exploding with all that stuff?"

"Her head's not exploding, Inuyasha, and it's not a collar," Kagome said patiently. "It's jewelry. If you add a little dangly pearl or a design, they look really pretty, too." She flicked the page over, and Miroku made an interested noise: it was a perfume ad, and the posing models were clad only in their underwear. Kagome hastily turned the page again. "That was…uh…just an ad. People who make things know lots of girls will look at these pages, so they buy page space to show off whatever they're selling."

"They're selling girls?" Miroku leaned in closer. "I say, Kagome-sama, may I—"

A weak rap of Sango's knuckles brought him around, and Kagome put the magazine aside, sighing, so they could all finish their dinners. Sango had only managed a small portion of hers, but no one remarked upon it as Kohaku cleared the dishes and Shippou curled back up in Kagome's lap with a huge yawn. "What were you guys doing before?"

"Playing a game…and now it's Inuyasha's turn." All eyes went his way, and the hanyou scowled darkly at the kitsune. The little boy pulled down his eyelid and wiggled deeper into Kagome's lap.

"Dammit. Fine…" Inuyasha thrust his forearms into his sleeves. "Okay, first off, I don't know why we have to play anything in the first place. What's wrong with just talking? Or even better, _not _talking?"

"That's one messed-up truth," Kagome noted dryly. "Two more, one true and one a lie."

"I know, wench." He crossed his legs again. "I don't like any of you…and I hate the wolf. There, dammit. That's three."

"You do like us, then?" Shippou piped up.

Inuyasha lifted the corner of his upper lip to show one fang warningly. "Who said that, runt?"

"Unless you really wanted to play or you like Kouga-kun, then you've gotta like at least one of us…unless you were cheating." Kagome affected a pose of utmost thoughtfulness. "You're too cranky to like games…" She tilted her head. "So you and Kouga-kun have just been playfighting this whole time?"

"Shut up!" Inuyasha snarled. "I fucking hate him!"

"Why is that?" Kagome asked curiously, willing to let him off the hook for now, before Sango or Miroku could jump in and make him regress any further. "He was here on behalf of his pack, right? Why do you guys hate each other so much?"

Inuyasha mumbled something under his breath, growing more and more surly as she watched. "What was that, Inuyasha?"

"I believe he said something about the fact that Kouga stole his sushi," Miroku replied solemnly, though his face was obviously having trouble keeping still.

"Most likely," Sango agreed, and from her voice one could also deduce difficulty in remaining somber. "It was an interesting story, to say the least—oh!" She coughed, then leaned over urgently. "Do you still have the mirror? We could always show you."

"No way in hell!" Inuyasha protested, but Miroku was already moving aside so Kagome could retrieve the velvet-wrapped bundle from under the bed. "Aw, c'mon, bouzu!"

"Sango-sama is too weak to attempt displaying it, and Kagome-sama's education is not complete without seeing the incident firsthand," Miroku declared haughtily, blocking Inuyasha's attempts to grab the mirror away with his staff. "How else would she understand the origins of one of the more important – if antagonistic – relationships of her acquaintance?"

"It's not a relationship! That makes it sound like…" Inuyasha made a face that would've turned milk sour straight from the udder. "It's not a relationship, dammit!"

"The point is, Inuyasha, if Kagome-sama wants to see and we have the means at our disposal, it would be rude not to show her." Miroku swatted another long-clawed grab away and crouched over the mirror, nearly holding it on his lap so that Kagome, Shippou and Sango could place their fingers on the rim safely. He glanced at Kohaku. "Would you like to watch? I'm not sure if you saw it the first time."

"All right…" Swallowing nervously, the boy tentatively rested his forefinger on the rim, relaxing visibly when nothing happened.

"This is such bullshit," Inuyasha blustered, getting to his feet again and crossing his arms angrily. "I'm gonna go take a bath. You idiots have fun playing with that stupid thing."

Kagome wondered about the reaction as the world faded to black and the sounds of his muted stomping – he would have punched through the floor had he put any appreciable amount of strength in it – also died away to nothing. _What, did Kouga beat him up in front of everyone over…sushi? This is gonna be bad…_

"Keep your eyes to the sides," Miroku's voice instructed softly as the mirror's light shimmered into a view of the courtyard at midday, facing the castle entrance. A pre-teen-ish Inuyasha was strutting around at a slight distance, blurry but visible, taking drawn-out bites of something in one hand and clutching something else in the other. "He was allowed to keep some sushi made with special meats that were a gift to his father from Kouga as part of a large peace offering. Inuyasha was not very modest about the honor, either. Watch carefully, now."

The miniature Inuyasha stuffed the rest of the tiny roll into his mouth, chewed with exaggerated relish and swallowed, turning to speak to a demon guard who had strolled up near his shoulder. One hand raised the other sushi roll to his mouth, and the viewpoint shifted slightly as a blur of brown came running in from around the side of the castle,leapt toa dead standstill just in front of Inuyasha, and resumed its path, leaving Inuyasha to absently raise his now-empty hand and sink his teeth into it.

The guards and servants in the vicinity erupted into laughter, some even calling others over to watch the young hanyou shake his hand and shake a fist in the wolf's direction, no doubt cursing him to all sorts of eternal torment. Kagome would've felt sorry for him if he hadn't been such a showoff about it. _They shouldn't have all laughed like that, but he did deserve…to…wait a minute…_

Miroku frowned as he heard her lean over, trying to study the surface in greater detail. Then his eyes went wide. "That's all, Kagome-sama!" He whipped his hand away, and she nearly fell over as dim light flooded her eyes and Miroku swiftly removed the mirror. "So, now you see why Inuyasha has never been kindly disposed towards Kouga."

Kagome nodded absently, rubbing her eyes. "Inuyasha looked kinda…different."

"He was younger," Sango supplied, stretching herself leisurely and giving an ostentatious yawn. "You should have seen Kouga after he was away safely, Kagome-chan. He had the thing in his mouth before Inuyasha even blinked, and he was giggling like mad the whole time. I've never seen anything so childish, but it _was _very funny."

Kagome pictured it and had to laugh. "I guess so. Are you getting tired, Sango-chan?"

"A bit." Sango straightened the covers beneath her and sighed, letting her eyes drift shut. "I'm so sorry for occupying your bed without your permission. Blame the houshi-sama for that."

"No, no, he was right. I would've insisted if I was here," Kagome said firmly, rising and patting her friend's arm. "I'll sleep in your futon."

"Ah…" Kohaku coughed slightly. "Kagome-sama? The laundry women said your cat marked it as it hung on the line. They had to clean it again, and it's not dry yet."

"Oh." Kagome blinked. _Dammit, Buyo. _"I'll use a spare one, then."

"Well, um, Buyo marked several other ones, too." Kagome closed her eyes in total agony. _Why couldn't he have been fixed before we found him?! _"They said the others have all been put in other rooms, and to take one at your leisure—there's one in the houshi-sama's room ready, and any of the servants will give up theirs if you ask." Kohaku flushed. "I was supposed to tell you earlier. I'm sorry."

"It's all right, Kohaku-kun," Kagome assured him. "I'm not too big on taking away people's beds because my stupid cat peed all over the others. I'll just sleep on the floor with one of the blankets."

"That's really not necessary, Kagome-sama," Miroku said smoothly, and both women looked at him suspiciously. "My own futon was laundered just this morning, and I insist that you take it."

"Oh, no, Miroku-sama, that's all right," Kagome demurred, shaking her head slightly and smiling. She'd been expecting something much worse than that. _We should really give him more credit. _"I wouldn't want anyone to have to move it all the way from your room to here."

"No one will have to move it if you simply sleep in my room." Miroku raised his hands in a guileless shrug.

Sango's mouth fell open. Then she shut it, and looked at Kagome curiously.

"Uh—" Kagome blinked, tried again, and had to settle for a moment of just gaping. "But…but Inuyasha—"

"He won't harm or bother you, Kagome-sama, and if I stay in here, we know that Sango-sama will be cared for instantly if she should have any trouble during the night." She had to give him credit: it actually almost sounded logical. "You had a difficult time last night, didn't you, Kagome-sama? Much as I know you're concerned for Sango-sama, she may very likely become ill again before the sun rises, and I'd be glad to take care of her in your stead." Miroku injected just the right amount of hurt resignation into the uncertain silence. "Of course, if you think I would ignore her infirmity and possibly put her under physical distress, I protest the lack of trust, but I do suppose we could always fetch Kaede instead to—"

"All right!" Kagome threw up her hands. "Okay! Fine! Shippou-chan, you and Kohaku-kun bunk together tonight." The kit and the boy brightened. "I'm gonna go take a bath and then break it to him. If he wants to kill something, I'll make him come here, okay?"

Kohaku started to say something, but Miroku coughed and spoke over him as Kagome gathered clean clothes. "Of course, Kagome-sama. Thank you for your understanding. We will see you both in the morning, and hopefully under better circumstances. Sango has yet to finish her part of the game as well, of course…"

The pleasant nammering had the desired effect; Kagome was so lost in thought over the ramifications of sleeping in the room next to Inuyasha's and berating herself – _we've slept, what, two feet apart, and squashed back to back, and nothing happened ­_– that she failed to read amused glances sent her way as she headed into the baths, set her things down and started to disrobe on the cleaning area. _Maybe I can just go in and he won't even notice…_

"Aren't we being forward tonight?"

Kagome dropped to her knees reflexively, clutching her kimono collar tighter and whipping her head around. Inuyasha was lounging alone in the biggest tub, arms spread over the back, apparently unconcerned with his state of undress. She was up and halfway to the door when he chuckled lazily and sat up. "Where you going? You still smell like sweat, y'know."

"I'm going to bed," she snapped, turning her head just enough to be aware that if she looked again, the steam probably wouldn't be in the way any more… "I'll s—I mean, good night."

"G'night," Kagome heard him call smugly. Then, the sound of water splashing and the slap of wet footsteps. "Oi! Wait a sec, I gotta ask—"

"Later!" In a stroke of inspired evil, she waited till he was almost to the door, then willed herself up and into Miroku's room, leaving Inuyasha to stand in the corridor, dripping, cursing and glaring at servants unlucky – lucky? – enough to catch an eyeful as they passed. _She's gonna pay for this…!_

_

* * *

_

"That wasn't very nice, houshi-sama," Sango scolded half-seriously as Miroku closed off the light and began removing his outer garments. "They're going to kill each other."

"No, they're not. Kagome-sama's honor is in more danger than her life," he said carelessly, feeling in the dark for her legs and sitting down not on them. "Trust me, I've experienced enough of the symptoms myself."

"Except you partook of the cure freely," Sango retorted, and stiffened as he climbed over her and settled down along her back. "What are you doing?"

"This space is more than adequate for the two of us, and muchmore pleasant thanthe forest floor." Miroku rubbed her arm lightly. "And I'll have you know that I only received what I needed a few short weeks ago. The rest was just distraction."

"Flatterer." Sango still wasn't used to his compliments, though she found that it became easier with practice. She let herself melt back against him, offering no resistance as his hand wandered a bit more freely. "Don't start what I'm not capable of finishing."

"Mmmmm. Indeed." He let it drop with a sigh and contented himself with nuzzling her neck instead, restraining his less noble urges and pressing his lips under her ear lightly. "I wonder…"

"Hmmm?" She yawned and shifted onto her stomach. Miroku remained on his side and began to rub her back with his left hand, applying slight pressure to the tension lining her shoulders. It still amazed him how soft her skin could be when the muscle underneath was as solid as his…but, he reminded himself with a little sigh, now was not the time for rediscovery. _Perhaps this is why old Mushin recommended women who can entertain with their minds as well as their… _He suppressed a snort at the terminology his guardian had used. _Never mind._

Miroku let his hand rest, then ran his fingertips up and down her back in slow, firm glides. "I wonder if Kagome-sama has any idea of it. I've never seen anyone so patient with Inuyasha."

Almost lulled into sleep, Sango blinked and mumbled something, turned her head to cough, and shook her head at his soft inquiry. "No, I'm all right, Miroku. But Kagome-chan…" She sighed.

He remained quiet, trailing his hand up to her head and working through thick, soft hair to begin massaging her scalp. Sango stretched luxuriously, sighing long and low, then tilted her head so he could reach her neck. "I'll have to remind her to start taking her tea tomorrow. If Inuyasha smells her once more, I don't know if he'd be able to control himself…or if she'd stop him."

"Really?" Miroku paused, resuming with another stern self-reminder that he had to keep his hands under control at her contented little noises. "I hadn't thought of that. He does seem more attached to her than anyone else who's known him such a short time."

"He's more attached than he is to anyone else, period. I've never seen him watch any other woman so constantly, except perhaps…" His hand slowed as she fell silent. "Anyone else would've discerned how Kagome-chan feels by now, but not him." Sango grimaced as her stomach knotted, and she drew her knees up, turning back onto her side so that his hand fell away. "She's too proud and too respectful of his idiot feelings to say anything, and he may not ever figure it out. I'm afraid he just might not…" She shuddered, curling into a ball.

"We don't know about that," Miroku said soothingly, easing her back against him and combing his fingers through her hair. She caught his left hand in hers, so that he was forced to stroke her head with his right. It made him nervous, but she always maintained thathis cursewas nothing to be afraid of as it was, and her stubborn courage warmed him no matter how many times he heard it. He buried his face in her shoulder and inhaled deeply, glad that his senses weren't like Inuyasha's: he could pick out the warm, familiar smell of her skin, clothes, and the fruity stuff Kagome had given her to use on her hair, but not the stink of sickness. Not that that would have kept him away from her, of course – he was grimly aware that only death could and surely would separate them now – but it did make him wonder, with a sudden pang of melancholy for his difficult but basically good-hearted friend, whether Inuyasha had ever experienced this, holding the solid warmth of a woman he loved, breathing her scent and knowing that she was leaning back against him in complete trust and savoring his presence as much as he needed hers. If he hadn't…well, no wonder he was so at odds with the world. Nothing else Miroku knew of gave one such a sense of contented peace and well-being.

_Not to disparage more…thorough activities, of course, _he added sleepily to himself as Sango slowly began to relax, _but if he hasn't done this, one doubts he's gone further. His loss…and Kagome-sama's. Idiot. Perhaps the room arrangements will give him a chance to reconsider...?_

_

* * *

_

Inuyasha had been more than a little disgruntled when he stuck his head into Kagome's room, ready to bellow at her for leaving him hanging like that, and breathed in a flood of fresh Miroku and Sango scent, mixed heavily with smells he didn't want to think about, but thankfully nothing _too _serious. Kagome's was stale, and he nearly bit the shoji in frustration: had she gone insane and hid herself outside somewhere to spite him? With the kugutsu running around, no less… _I swear I'm going to put a damn leash on her!_

The thought made his foot twitch, though, and he abandoned it in self-disgust. _Screw this. I'm going to my room, and she'll pro'ly stop in the kitchen later to steal food, and I can catch her then. _He checked the storeroom quickly, just in case. Nothing. _Dammit!_

It never occurred to him that Miroku's presence in her room might indicate that she was in his, and so it was that when he took himself to his own chamber and paced to the window, scowling at the bare sliver of moon just rising past the upper lip of his window, her voice from the next room scared him so badly that he literally squeaked. "All clean now?"

"You…you…sweaty…_wench_!" Inuyasha growled freely, stalked over to the adjoining shoji and wrenched it open, tearing the rice paper and wood into shreds without noticing. There she was, reclining on her side in Miroku's futon, in a clean, plain white sleeping yukata, smiling innocently. He sank to his haunches, hissing at her in the darkness. "Get your ass back to your room!"

"Okay. Can the rest of me stay here?"

"NO! I mean…NO! Go away!"

"Good God, you're rude. Has anyone ever told you that?" Kagome settled down complacently. "Miroku's taking care of Sango for the night, no dirty remarks, thank you, and he offered to switch me rooms."

_Next time I see him, my foot is going so far down his throat that I'll be able to…to…_ Inuyasha was too discombobulated to think of what he'd be able to do. Something that hurt, preferably. "Get out!" 

"I'm not going to jump you, Inuyasha." She snuggled deeper and stuck her tongue out quickly. "And if I smell bad, it's your fault, remember?"

"You coulda come in anyway. S'not like I'd do anything," he shot back irritably. "Now get out."

"I was looking forward to a bath, too," Kagome muttered as if he hadn't spoken, turning over and yelping softly as she put too much weight on her shoulder. "See, I didn't get to soak it, either, and now it's all stiff."

"It wouldn't hurt if you would use it more. Lemme see." Inuyasha wanted to smack his forehead as Kagome scooted away instead, trying to drag the entire futon with her one-handed. "For the last. Fucking. Time. I am _not _gonna do anything. I just want to see what the hell you did to it and whether you need to stop pretending the damn thing isn't there. Is that acceptable, or am I going to have to knock you out?"

"Try me," Kagome grunted, working the tenseness from her muscles carefully. "If you even _think_ about it, I'm never answering your little sleepy question again."

Inuyasha swore under his breath. He'd hoped she had forgotten about that. "If you let me see your stupid shoulder, you can sleep in here and watch me tear the bouzu's skin off tomorrow. Better?"

"Since you put it so charmingly, you big jerk…" Kagome muttered a few more choice phrases, but allowed him to draw her out of the futon and into his room, where the light was marginally better. She seated herself primly on the futon, slinging her hair over her shoulder and trying not to remember that she wasn't wearing a bra.

Not that it was easy to forget, of course, as he crouched directly in front of her, and though his touch was light and as impersonal as he could make it, Kagome still felt a little wobbly when he eased her sleeve aside, letting her cross her arms before tugging it down to expose her shoulder.

"Holy…" She had to have hit it directly on the bone, he thought, and the force had opened a slight scrape atop the angry purple-black bruise. "Why the hell didn't you go see the old hag and get something for it? You talked to her for _how _long without mentioning it?"

"It's not the end of the world." She tried to tug her sleeve away, but Inuyasha seemed transfixed, staring at the discolored swelling along the otherwise delicate line of her collarbone till she was sure he could feel the heat her face was giving off. "Okay, fine, I'll get something for it tomorrow. Can I go to sleep now?"

"Why're you being so stubborn? This isn't a big deal, and you don't seem to get off on pain, and you don't get attention bitching about it, either…" Inuyasha's grip tightened. "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you just trying to piss me off or something? And don't pull anything about _me_ hiding shit, 'cause you know I heal faster than you do!"

"I'm used to it, okay?" Kagome's legs would have been trembling if they had been supporting her. Why was he hammering at her like this? "You're worse than Dad. The past few years, if I so much as friggin' coughed, he wanted to take me to the hospital. After the first couple of times, I just wouldn't cough anymore, and it would go away sooner or later. This isn't life-threatening, either, and if it was, I'd let you know! Now let _go_!"

Inuyasha wanted to beat Yoshio to a pulp—well, at least more than he usually did whenever he thought about the little worm. "You're telling me you're putting yourself through this crap because your father's too stupid to know the difference between a cough and something fatal?"

Kagome stiffened, and the hot sting of anger flooded his nostrils, made his head reel and had him choking for breath, afraid to look up at her, and for good reason; it didn't take a psychic to tell that she had never been closer to hitting him, including their first meeting. Slowly, inexorably, shegrabbed athis forelocks and dragged his face closer to hers in the darkness. Her eyes glittered with angry, unshed tears, but the brown was almost shooting off sparks, she was so furious. Her voice was soft, clipped, and made his ears dive back for the safety of his hair. "Do you know the symptoms of an impending heart attack, Inuyasha?"

Surprise tightened his stomach further, and he shook his head dumbly. Though he could've crushed her with no effort, her grip on his hair seemed unbreakable, and he was scared to try.

"Neither did Dad. They're very simple, Inuyasha. Pressure in the chest. Tightness, aches in the left arm, shortness of breath. Mom had all of those, probably a few more, but she was busy planning my eleventh birthday party and running all our lives, so she didn't have _time_ to go to the doctor for another checkup. Besides, she was only in her early forties, very healthy, so she didn't have to worry." Kagome's fists were trembling. Inuyasha wanted very badly to stop her, but he sensed dimly that to do so would be disastrous, and not just for him.

"So we all go to sleep the night before my birthday, she tucks me in, and I remind her that I wanted…some stupid damn toy, I don't remember what, and she just smiled at me and said good night. I thought it was weird when I woke up again and she was standing next to my bed…" Her slim knuckles were white, almost the color of his hair, and Inuyasha looked at them helplessly, back at her, bewilderment increasing. _Gods, what do I do now?_

_Just listen. _The answer came to him suddenly, and he obeyed without further question, though his stomach seemed to turn itself further inside out as the soft litany went on.

"She's standing there, and she looks so sad, and I ask her what the matter is…" Kagome half laughed, half sobbed. "This sounds so cliché and stupid, but she says she has to go, and I know exactly what she means. I try to grab her hand, but she moves out of the way, says she loves me, and then she walks out the door. I tried to get up and run after her, and then I wake up _again_, and I start screaming my little head off—"

A wall of solid heat caught her up, pressing her shoulder painfully, but she was too grateful for something to latch onto to notice it or feel Inuyasha's hand awkwardly touching her hair as she babbled, losing coherence fast but unable to stop, like draining poison from an infected wound. "I think Dad probably tried to get Mom up, 'cause he had work in the morning and she usually got us in the middle of the night and Souta was still little, but she wouldn't get up, and he finally called an ambulance, but it was too late, she just died in her sleep and I was still yelling and waking everyone up and I wouldn't shut up…"

"I can imagine," Inuyasha murmured. He hadn't meant to say it aloud, but luckily it struck her as enormously funny, even more so than Shippou's innocent comment about presents, until Inuyasha wondered if he was going to have to dig into his stash of sleeping potion to stop her hysterical laughter.

"And then…" Kagome gasped, pounding his arm weakly as if she was reaching the punchline of a great joke, "and _then _they figure out that I was screaming 'cause I knew about Mom, and I'm busy clinging to Dad's legs – and our housekeeper used this expensive detergent crap that's supposed to smell like freakin' _rain_, God, I _hate _that damn smell now! – and the second I let up, Akemi's asking me what I did, and Nabiki tells me it must've been something I did—"

"That's the most fucking idiotic thing I've ever heard!" Inuyasha shook her sharply, only relenting when he heard her teeth rattle. "You didn't do a damn thing to make it happen, and you know it! You just have the worst luck of everyone I've ever known, _combined_!"

"Try telling that to a bunch of teenagers who wake up thinking their baby sister just won't shut up thanks to a nightmare, and then they find out, oh, wait, she woke them up because their mother is dead and she knew it before anyone else did! They were wrong, but what the hell else were they supposed to think?!"

Inuyasha pushed her back roughly and yanked the kimono sleeve off her shoulder, exposing the splotch of raised, puckered skin high on her back. "Is that where you got this?"

"Yes, Captain Dramatic, it is! I was too out of it to defend myself, so I got too close to the stairs, Nabiki took her chance, and wheeee! Off I went, caught myself on some sharp edge, and locked myself in the bathroom before anyone else could take a shot at me. Dad didn't find me till…how long did I say later?" Kagome jerked her shoulders in a shrug, heedless of the pain or of how much skin she was exposing. "I forget. But that's the story of my eleventh birthday, my big ol' battle wound, and why Dad freaks out every time one of us might be sick but focuses on _me_. I'm more like Mom than any of the rest of us are, and if anyone's gonna conk out at random from some obscure disease—"

"Yeah, wench, I get it." The warmth was back, pressing against her face, and she realized with a belated start that Inuyasha had grabbed her and put her in his lap at some point. "You're not dying from any heart things or any obscure diseases, Kagome, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get bruises treated when they'll go away faster that way."

Kagome tried to burrow into his front the same way Shippou always dug into her lap. "What's the point? It heals, or it doesn't."

She felt him growling all through her front and in her ear. If it had been softer, she might have mistaken it for purring. "Is that why your sisters are such bitches to you?"

Tears threatened again. Her adrenaline was fading fast, leaving an aching emptiness. _Why did I bring this up?! He doesn't care, I don't want to talk about it, it's the perfect combination! _"Probably. Can't think of any other horribly traumatic events lying around that might've made them hate me."

The vibration against her face accelerated, and Kagome retreated into his haori again. The material smelled just the way she'd remembered, a mix of pleasantly masculine odors: earth, forest, his hair…

She couldn't escape his voice, though. "Would I be wrong to assume you haven't told many people about this?"

Kagome shoved away, plastered on an insane smile and bowed rapidly. "Hello! I'm Higurashi Kagome, and my sisters hate me because I predicted my mom's death when I was 11 without being able to do anything about it! Nice to meet you! What's your name?!"

Her face met his front again, but this time was pressed there, softly, clearly meant to stay. "Cut it out." Kagome tried to move, and froze instantly at a light prick on the back of her neck, hot breath contracting the skin as she flinched. Neither moved, and Kagome swallowed hard as the forced stillness began to creep up on her. She gripped his sleeves as her arms began shaking again, then her torso, till her whole body was shuddering.

Panic rose rapidly, nearly choking her with the rise of bile in her throat. He wasn't letting her go, and if she didn't do something, talk about something else or otherwise forget it _now_, she was going to be sick. Reliving that night briefly hadn't killed her, but hosting a little reunion for all the feelings about it she'd safely stowed away just might, it felt like.

"Let go," Kagome managed somehow, and the last remnants of her vision blurred with frustrated tears as she felt his grip tighten. "Let me _go_, Inuyasha!" _Movie and shoujo cry scenes never have the girl puking all over the place, but if I don't get up so help me—_

"You're not going anywhere," he said quietly over the thick pounding in her ears, and she could hear herself gulp as her head shook from side to side blindly. "You wouldn't let me get away with starting to talk about shit and then dropping it. Why should I be any different?"

"I have too, you hypocrite, a million times!" she wailed, hating him for drawing her out like this and then making her dwell on the most painful part of her life in detail. "Inuyasha, I'm going to be sick! I mean it!"

He breathed deeply at her neck, rubbing his nose absently on the soft flesh. "You've got a choice. You can be sick now and get it over with, or you bury it again and keep trying to make it up to those bitter, cowardly, lazy-ass whores you have to live with."

Kagome choked out several foul words, beating his chest with her fist and beginning to sob in earnest. His ears pricked as he caught "not fair" several times. "What's not fair? Me not letting you go run off somewhere?"

"No, you fucktard! …Yes! But Mom didn't do anything! Why the hell did she have to die like that?! I got her for _ten _years! Ten! That's _nothing_! And why the hell did they punish _me _for it?! I didn't do a—" the next word was mangled in a gasping sob, "—thing, not one! I had a dream, and I lost Mom, got a huge infection and spent a year away from home because of it! No one even _asked _me if I wanted to go! They just threw my ass onto a plane!"

Inuyasha grunted softly. She'd never even alluded to that before…had she? He stroked her hair carefully, watching his claws. "Where'd you go?"

"Some stupid place in New Mexico. That's a state, a small area in America, and some friends of my dad lived there. I got tossed over there like a sack of crap so 'the family could work things through'…_without me there_! I wasn't happy at home, but I almost _died _away from it!" Inuyasha had never imagined that Kagome's pleasant, expressive voice could get so harsh, but it did, and then some, as the poison flowed freely. "Do you have any idea what it was like getting out of the hospital with a hurt shoulder, being handed a suitcase and getting on a plane without knowing not even your daddy knows when he's going to see you again?" Her fingers dug into his haori. "No, you don't! You don't even know what a damn plane is!"

"Are you always this noisy when you cry?" he asked, half joking and hoping to aim some of her wrath back at him: he could take it, and it would make her feel better than being angry at her father, who was going to meet the insides of his own intestines when Inuyasha saw him next.

"_I don't!" _His ears flattened again at the strangled protest, and he distantly remembered two or three times he'd seen her crying so quietly that even he could barely hear. _Well, that explains that… _"Every time I think about all this, I get so upset that I think about something else, and that's what I'd be doing now if you weren't so damn sadistic! I thought you hated it when I cried! Was it all some big lure so you could get me like this now, or what?!"

"Yeah, that's right," he muttered, wincing as the front of his haori was soaked anew and her fist thumped him again, so light that he barely noticed. "C'mon, you can do better than that…" He wondered absently if he was doing the right thing, accepting her abuse and egging her on, hoping that purging all those pent-up emotions would help; it was either that, or tell the curse to rot in hell and go out the shrine to crack some heads, which would not help in the short or long run except to make him feel a lot better. Or, he could always give her some of the distraction she wanted, as his body was suggesting…_or _he could chop his arm off with Tetsusaiga, but then that wasn't really a good idea, either, now was it? _Gods help me if I ever get _that _stupid…_

It was only when she was approaching real distress, hiccupping so badly that she couldn't breathe, that Inuyasha changed tacks. He tried a course of behavior that wouldn't have even crossed his mind much more than a month ago and stroked her back gently, murmuring vague reassurances that none of it was her fault in her ear and rocking her slender, shaking frame to and fro in what felt like an appropriately soothing motion.

Kagome seized upon the new order of things eagerly, having at least finally acknowledged a lot of anger she'd thought buried for good – _damn zombie emotions _– and her weeping turned from the hard, bitter kind that would indeed make her sick if she kept it up into softer, more heartbroken sobs, furthering Inuyasha's desire to hurt something on her behalf even as he tried to convey some measure of comfort that her big stupid moronic asshole undeserving family had obviously never given her when she needed it most.

Finally, her energy petered out, even as tears were still running down her raw cheeks and she was sure her eyeballs were going to fall out. Kagome swallowed a hot lump in her throat and shuddered one last time, unabashedly grateful for the weight surrounding her and keeping her upright. "M'sorry. I feel so stupid."

"Don't." The single word brought her head up, wondering at the depth of it, and she started as Inuyasha leaned down and delicately swiped at one trail with his tongue, then turned her head and bathed the other cheek in a single motion. "Don't apologize for doing what girls always do, 'cause you need to, and don't feel stupid. You shoulda done this when she first died, instead of getting attacked and then packed off somewhere."

"And had Dad lick my face off when I was done?" she suggested feebly.

"It would've been smarter than anything else he did." Inuyasha tucked her head back against what he thought might be a dry spot left on his shoulder, and she relaxed into the curve without even thinking; he let his eyes shut on their own, controlling the need to do _some_thing to make it better. Whether this was some kind of demon instinct popping up to say hello or just a male thing, he wasn't sure, but he did know that if he didn't find a way to fix it for her somehow, he was going to chew through the walls. Very simple, really. "I'm surprised you didn't stay in the other place."

"It was pretty with all the mountains and everything, but it wasn't home, and I still missed my family." Kagome made a face, sniffling, then made a slightly different face at the thought of what a mess she had to be making all over his haori. "My twelfth birthday, I got so homesick that I actually got sick, so they took me back home soon after that."

"That musta been a fun homecoming." Inuyasha shifted her onto his right leg so he could bring the other up as a backrest and leave his hands free.

"I don't want to talk about it any more. But thanks for being sadistic. I kinda feel a little better." She might consider seeing a therapist after all this was over, but for the moment, this was even better. Kagome sniffled again and drew her limbs in closer, and Inuyasha draped his arm over her shoulders so that his sleeve almost created a curtain around her body. The last remnants of tension eased from her muscles as she savored the feeling of being hidden, resting her cheek against his heart with a sigh. "So much for forgetting about angst, huh?"

"Feh. I knew it wouldn't work." Inuyasha traced the scar's edges carefully, resting his hand between her skin and his haori. "There's gotta be a halfway point between agonizing about crap and pretending everything's perfect. Maybe starting tomorrow…" He shrugged. "You feel any better?"

Was he kidding? She hadn't felt so safe in years. "I don't think I'm gonna puke all over your futon, if that counts for anything. And I think you're right about the halfway thing, but I vote we quit talking about it now. Talking is almost as bad for you as thinking."

"So you say we should just sit there and drool instead?" Kagome giggled quietly. Inuyasha allowed himself the ghost of a smile. "That might just be a better idea. It'd take a while to get used to never being dry again, but we can try it if you want."

"No, that's okay, Doc, but thanks anyway." Her eyes had adjusted just enough to the darkness to enable her to lean back, push herself up, lift his sleeve out of the way and aim a mock serious look in his direction. "I hate to break it to you, but not too deep down, you're a good guy. Don't expect me to keep it secret forever, either."

The lingering taste and scent of her tears reminded him to keep his hands out of serious trouble, but couldn't quite halt a brief exploration of her bare upper back – just checking to make sure she was relaxed, of course, nothing more – before he eased her yukata closed and shifted to let her move away if she so chose now that that protective urge was gradually ebbing away. It still took him a second to forget the feel of her skin and remember what she had said, though. "Keh. You're crazier than I thought."

Kagome pouted as he lifted his arm and the haori away, forgetting that he could see her in the dark, and Inuyasha snorted gently. If that expression was supposed to be anything other than unfairly cute, it had failed miserably—not that she was doing it on purpose, he was sure, but that only made it all the more appealing. "What? I've called you worse than that."

"Not that! I just like hiding. It's fun pretending no one can find you." She snuggled back down, poking his chest idly. "I seem to recall something about you falling asleep in your mom's clothes, and I doubt those were kept out in the open."

"I'm gonna kill the bouzu for that one," Inuyasha grumbled, though any anger he might've been able to dredge up was quenched by the sensation of her shoulders shaking in laughter instead of sorrow. He replaced his arm without thinking, and Kagome gleefully pulled the drape of rough red fabric over her head. It was all he could do not to laugh outright. "Have I ever told you how weird you are?"

"You can't tell me anything, 'cause I'm not here" was her slightly muffled reply. She squeaked and clutched it tighter as he tugged his arm up, smirking. "No! Mine!"

"Even though I've been wearing it my whole life and it's attached to _me_?" Tug. _She's feeling better enough to screw around. Good. I think._

"Uh huh. 'Cause I said so." She pulled it back down to frame her face. "As you can clearly see, mine."

"I thought you wanted to go to sleep?" Tug tug. He was mildly surprised to discover that what he usually would've thought of as tolerating her stupidity was actually more like playing, and what was more, it was even kind of fun. _Who knew?_

"That was before I remembered that you were wearing my haori." Kagome made a razzing sound.

"If you're not here, how can you be wearing anything?" he countered, tapping her back gently with his knuckles.

Kagome giggled. "You're learning!" She drummed her fingers on his chest. "But if I was anywhere, I'd be wearing something, unless I was in the tub, maybe. And this is not the tub, 'cause if it was, my hair wouldn't be stinky."

Inuyasha thought about that for a moment. His crusty side couldn't believe he was participating in such a stupid argument, but he silenced it by wondering what it would make him if he were to lose it. "Well, what if your hair's not stinky?"

"Ah, but it is, and very stinky, too. I could smell it on the sleeping bag when I woke up this morning." She frowned, and the whimsy dropped from her tone. "Can't believe that was just this morning. What is it with days getting so long lately?"

"They can't keep it up. Just look at it that way." Inuyasha smoothed the tangled mass away from her shoulders and ran his hand down her back absently, then caught himself for the first time. "Oh. Sorry."

"If you apologize for touching me one more time, I'm going to have Ginta buy enough dog whistles for everyone in the castle and hand them out," Kagome muttered, tapping his shoulder irritably. "Remember the first time I grabbed your hand? Your head almost exploded."

"You took me by surprise, that's all. I wasn't used to the idea of anyone thinking it was okay to grab someone for no reason," he said with a touch of his usual defensiveness, and she winced. "Are you _sure _you don't think it's pushing it?"

"Pushing what? Maybe a couple of societal norms, but I'm not giving you permission to grope me or anything. We're friends, so touching my back or my hair when I'm upset is sweet, not indecent." She paused, choosing her words very carefully. "And like I said, so long as you're not in public and doing…anything else, kissing someone you're not married to isn't a mortal sin, either."

He grunted, but that was all. Kagome felt the rough outer material of his sleeve absently, seizing upon the excuse to change the subject. "What is this, anyway?"

"Fire-rat fur." She started. "Dunno if they even exist anymore, but that's what it is. Had it since I was a pup. It's linked to my youki, so it's grown with me. Guards against most arrows and human swords, too." A light, wet stroke on her neck made her jump again. "You better now?"

"Uh…yeah." Kagome felt a bit silly. _First I play therapy patient, then I act like a preschooler, and now I try to convince him that making out is perfectly normal. I'm still on a roll. A very stupid roll. _Well, he'd been remarkably patient with her, and even he had to see now how much she trusted him, so that was something…

"I guess it would be kind of dumb to ask if you…" His voice startled her yet again. Warm breath hit her face with his short sigh, and he picked up one of her hands, stroking the back absently with the rough pad of his thumb. "Put it this way. You want…to…talk about anything else before we…_you _go to sleep?"

"Talk…?" Kagome flushed at the small gesture and tried to puzzle out his odd tone. "Not that I can think of…" She sat up straighter and ran her free hand over his front till she relocated a forelock and tugged at it. "Thanks again for putting up with me. It couldn't have been much fun to hear."

"I already told you, if you want to bitch about something, don't let me stop you," he said gruffly. _Aw, dammit… _Too late.There went that protective thing again. Almost against his will, his arm caught her back up, and she twisted around to look towards him curiously.

Old habits die hard, and thus it was that Inuyasha almost forced himself to put her down. But, recalling their talk – more like _her _talk – on the pavilion, he scowled, and reason took over. _She says it's okay, I wouldn't mind it, and she still smells sad…and it doesn't change a damn thing _were his only further thoughts. Then he tipped her head back again and leaned down to kiss her cheek; when she almost reflexively sat up straighter as he brought his head up, he mentally nodded and physically took hold of her chin, leaning back in slowly. _See, nothing wrong with a quick—_

Not only did she agree with there being nothing wrong, Kagome welcomed the touch of his lips on hers with just a trifle more enthusiasm than he'd expected: her arms locked around his neck, and after a few seconds of worry that his fangs would prick her flesh the way she was pressing against them, Inuyasha let peaceful bemusement take over. It _was_ a little unorthodox, but comfort was comfort, after all, especially when he'd been correct in assuming that she'd been hoping for it. _Weirdo. Wonder how many other modern women are like that? _He shifted her up closer, unsure of why any female would want this from _him_, but satisfied that Kagome was happy for the moment. _Definitely weird—uh oh. _

The dreamlike contentment Kagome had been enjoying was broken off abruptly with Inuyasha pushing her back, huffing slightly. "What're you doing?!"

Kagome frowned, opened her mouth to ask what he meant, and shut it with a click. _Oops. _She'd lost control for a second there, the same way she had that first time in the treehouse. Any longer and he'd start picking up a _very _interesting scent. "Oh. I…f-forgot. Sorry."

Inuyasha growled so loudly that she ducked away. He caught her and turned her back to him angrily. "What did I tell you about apologizing?!"

There were three beats of silence.

One. Kagome blinked.

Two. Inuyasha's ears flicked as they both digested what he'd said.

Three. Kagome snorted before she could stop herself, and Inuyasha experienced an unfamiliar sensation in his diaphragm.

Another moment. Then they both burst out laughing.

"How…_how _many rounds of 'sorry-don't be' does that make?" Kagome gasped, leaning into him for support as her ability to sit up straight took a brief Hawaiian vacation.

"I…dunno!" Inuyasha was being much quieter than the time he caught them at Dai Hin Min, but those hoarse, choppy sounds were unmistakably laughter. "So _who_ was it that started that one? You did it, I said it was okay, you said it was okay, I apologized, or—"

"I think…I think it was the other way around, but I don't know!" Kagome palmed away tears of mirth, trying to catch her breath with one of his arms supporting her waist. "Oh, Lord, we need to write this down or something."

"Yeah, so we can burn it," he agreed with a chuckle, and pressed her hip gently. "You gonna be okay walking to your…the bouzu's room?"

"I think I can make it…" Still giggling like a drunkard, Kagome felt for his jaw, then his cheek, and pecked the opposite side quickly. "Let go so I can try to stand up, first off."

Inuyasha rose, steadying her as he set her on her feet, and she rolled her eyes at the slowness with which he released her arm and waist. "I'm not _that _bad, Inuyasha." She took a careful step, knees wobbling but functioning adequately. "See?" Kagome turned and grinned at the darkness. "It's a special person who can make me laugh _and _cry, especially when it's a good kind of crying. I bid ye good night, fair sir…" With an exaggerated bow and flourish more out of medieval Europe than feudal Japan, she turned and staggered back to the ruined shoji, working her way around it and collapsing onto the futon with a contented sigh.

It hadn't been concern that made him let go so reluctantly, but she needn't be told as much."Oh, yeah…" Inuyasha roused himself and raised his voice. "Will you marry me, Kagome?"

Kagome smiled sadly at the ceiling, fully aware that she was never going to get used to it. _Good, if it keeps me from taking it for granted… _"No, I won't. Good night, Inuyasha. Thanks."

"Quit thanking me." Pause. They answered simultaneously, hers quickly and his high-pitched and mocking: "Sorry." Laughter, and Inuyasha lazily called back, "Night, Kagome."

When each supposed the other to be asleep, reflection reared its head; Kagome idly wondered if she should get upset more often as she drifted off, if it meant getting Inuyasha to play around and hold her, while Inuyasha was pleasantly surprised to find that his self-recrimination had gotten the message already. _My relationship with Kagome isn't my one with Kikyou, and it won't ever be the same, so why would it be able to screw it up? Not like it'll ever get anywhere near that serious… _He yawned, letting the scent left on his futon blot out any encroaching worries about kugutsu, or anger at Kagome's father. _I'd go there tomorrow and rip his spleen out, but Kagome wouldn't like that…women and their fathers, what _is _that? Oh, well. Can't help it, she's just weird. _Inuyasha cast one last glance at the next room, unaware that he was smiling absently, and was asleep the second he let his head drop.

* * *

A/N: There y'go. Time to do Christmas shopping and other errands, but I'll shoot for the usual Thursday post this week anyway so's I can do some more detailed reviewer responses and actually move time along a bit. (Yes, it can be done—I've been planning the next bit for forever now…) Toodles! 

(Oh, yeah, props to Sis for suggestingI adaptone of our favorite family stories to explain the antagonism between Inuyasha and Kouga...and I note that ff dot net is now mashing together _three _words at a time. Still not my fault. Bleh.)


	31. A Somewhat Fluffy Tale

Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha. Insert witty qualification here.

A/N: Yo! Got nothing to do at the moment (seeing as how it's 5:30 a.m. and all), so let's get to it, shall we?

…After a few reviewer responses, of course. I'm in a bit of a hurry, so the usual disclaimer about loving everyone equally whether I reply to you personally or not applies even more than usual.

**random person: **Bingo! ;D

**Bijoux no Miko: **I actually didn't remember what you were talking about for a minute. :'D Why can I not remember my own writing??

**encarna: **Ooooh! Chocolate chips! Sweet! Danke.

**reenas-as: **700 pages in Word?! Well, somehow I'm not surprised…and I do plan to write actual books someday. Thank'ee.

**Palmtree: **No, nuh-uh and nope. No lemons. …On ff dot net, anyway, or else I'd be deleted. (snerk) Seriously, though, that's not a lemon you smell.

**heykyra13: **A toast, to anyone else who recognizes "Valse de la Lune"'s lyrics.

**daniel-gudman: **Ahhh. Gotcha. I'm afraid the relationship stuff's really not going anywhere, though; we've still got a bit of a ways to go. Fairly warned be thee, says I.

I'll also reiterate, once again, that the spelling mistakes are very much not my fault. The site mashes words together at random, and when I use the new features to go back and fix it, new mistakes are made in other places. It's _very _annoying, trust me…and just a general note: death threats are counterproductive. I have yet to read a death threat, joking or otherwise, and chuckle to myself: "How cute! I should update sooner!" Please don't.

Cookies to purplepeopleeater, fardreamer86, minaosu, and everyone else who knew the quote was Raenef from _Demon Diary _and didn't say so in a review. Whee. Chapter time now.

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 31**

Kagome awoke slowly, gradually, and very lazily, in the way she'd always preferred but rarely got to indulge. It took a good five minutes for her to stop yawning and focus on her surroundings, which were unfamiliar at first. _Oh. Right. Miroku's room. Switched last night, cried all over Inuyasha, fell asleep. _She yawned again, unperturbed. A kind ofsleepy contentment had seeped into her, and she was still enjoying the effects._He's_ _probably back to normal again. Mornings tend to do that. Man, I need to wash my hair…wonder if he's up yet?_

If he was up, she saw immediately, he hadn't fixed the shoji yet; as such, Kagome was not surprised to find that, despite the golden light patterned across the futon from his small window, Inuyasha was still heavily asleep. She smiled despite herself and came up closer, as quietly as she could. She'd only gotten the chance to watch him sleep once…her smile faded. And that had been because Kikyou had been messing with them. Kagome glanced around: no dead priestess in the vicinity—that she could see, anyway.

"Hey," she said softly, crouching next to his head and patting the floor to get his attention. To her amusement, he had thrown off the cover and was sprawled half off the futon on his stomach, white hair strewn carelessly all over the place. Kagome glanced out the window: yep, late enough to justify waking him. She knew she should probably slip out before any of the servants caught wind of her presence in here – assuming none of them already had, of course – but her curiosity was already getting the best of her as to how he'd act after last night. "Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha grunted and turned over, rolling onto his side and then falling onto his back, yawning slowly. If he was awake, he wasn't opening his eyes. "Inuyasha?"

His leg twitched. "Don't want any more," he mumbled, barely intelligible.

Kagome bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. "Don't want any more what?" His profile was turned slightly away, and without thinking, she leaned over and tapped his stripe very gently. "C'mon, Inuyasha, wakey wake…huh?"

Blink. "What the…?" Kagome withdrew her hand, then rested her fingertip on his cheek again. Sure enough, there it went, fading slowly till his skin was all golden tan, no purple to be seen anywhere. Mindful now of what had happened last time, she held her breath, braced herself and leaned over precariously, catching a glimpse of the other cheek before another mumble brought her back with a start. _Nothing there, either. What the hell… _

To her further bewilderment, as soon as she sat back on her heels and replaced her hands on her knees, the stripe facing her slowly seeped back into his skin, as solid-looking as ever. She scratched her head, wrinkling her nose in sudden inspiration: where had she seen him before like that…? _The mirror! Kouga stole the sushi, so I wasn't paying attention, but Inuyasha didn't look like he had anything on his face…I think… _The image had been small and blurry. It could've been her imagination, but…

Holding her breath again, Kagome reached over to touch the stripe's base—and Inuyasha suddenly rolled back over, trapping her hand before she could finish yanking it back.

_Oh, crap! _Kagome tried to ease it free, but the scrape of his fangs on her forearm brought her to a standstill. _Crap, crap…ah ha! _In a moment of desperate creativity, she extended her other arm as far over his head as she could reach and snapped her fingers _loud_.

Inuyasha shot upright, nearly braining her but freeing her hand in the process. "I didn't do it!"

"Didn't do what?" Kagome scooted back as he looked around blankly, hoping he couldn't hear her pulse racing. She met his bleary gaze as innocently as she could. "Time to get up, Inuyasha."

He screwed up his eyes, grinding the heel of his hand into them in turn. "Why the hell'd you wake me up so damn early?"

"It's not that early, Inuyasha, and I want to see how Sango's doing. C'mon." She tugged his hair gently. "Besides, I'm hungry, and I don't wanna eat without you."

"Feh." Inuyasha reminded himself sternly that she just didn't want to get poisoned – hard to maintain with the way she was smiling at him…and why was she breathing so hard when she didn't smell scared or aroused? – and groggily climbed to his feet. "Fine, whatever. You go first so the servants don't—"

"Good morning, Kagome-sama, Inuyasha-sama!" An older woman dodged through the tangled mess of rice paper and wood separating rooms and bowed deeply, face etched with smile lines. She set down a small stack of clothes and bowed again. "We've received word that Shimoko-sama will be returning today for an extended visit. Would you care to change, Kagome-sama? The baths are ready, but we have fresher clothing should you choose to eat beforehand."

"Uh…I think I'll take a bath first, actually." Kagome tried to be gracious, but she knew just as well as Inuyasha did that if one servant knew she was in here, then it was safe to deduce that the whole castle knew she had slept in the other room last night, and neither _wanted _to know what conclusions had been drawn. Inuyasha's discomfort increased sharply at the thought of his niece dropping in to harass him again, and Kagome wondered if she would have time to wash her hair first.

Thus it was that they entered Kagome's room an hour later a great deal more self-consciously than they had the day before, and Miroku deduced as much almost instantly. "Good morning, Kagome-sama, Inuyasha," he said courteously, rising from the bed and indicating that Kagome could sit next to Sango. The slayer was propped up on the pillow and a folded blanket, looking better but definitely not fully well. "Breakfast should be here soon…"

Though the topic was dodged assiduously, none of them could ignore the speculative looks sent Kagome's way as two women laden with dishes came in and served breakfast, followed closely by Kohaku and Shippou. Kagome let the kit play with the wet ends of her hair and mentally sighed. _Nothing to be done for it now. _"So, Shimoko's coming?"

"Yes, Jaken came and told us to prepare for her arrival." Miroku didn't bother to hide his distaste. "We'll have to invite her to one of the meeting rooms. There's not enough room in here."

"What's wrong with outside?" Shippou asked. "It's really pretty out today." There was a round of covert glances at Inuyasha, whose face was obscured by his rice bowl.

Miroku shook his head, but Sango forestalled him with a hand on his arm. "I'd like the fresh air. Besides, if the baby is with her, I think she'd prefer to stay out in the open."

"Really? I would've thought it would be the other way," Kagome remarked, interest piqued. "Isn't she part dog demon, too?"

Sango nodded. "Her powers seem to lean towards air, though, and if she was threatened, she could get away easier that way. One of the first lessons Father drilled into us was never to corner females with young unless we wanted our heads taken off, no matter how badly we might have wounded them."

"Lovely." Kagome let Shippou finish the rest of her miso.

Once breakfast was cleaned up and Kagome had assisted Sango in doing the same for herself – both repeatedly refusing Miroku's offers of help till Inuyasha lost patience and dragged the monk out in a headlock – they assembled outside, Miroku and Kagome each taking one of the slayer's arms and supporting her to the little niche where they'd met Shimoko before.

Sure enough, the demoness was waiting for them, kneeling on the ground in an expensive cobalt silk kimono, Tadako tucked securely into her arms. She rose and bowed gracefully, coming forward to nod and smile at Kagome. "Auntie. You look well today."

"Thank you, Shimoko-san. That kimono is gorgeous." Kagome leaned in to smile at the baby, who was chewing absently on her wrist and looking at them with mild interest. "How're you doing?"

"We're doing perfectly well," Shimoko said complacently, settling back down with a little sigh. She raised an eyebrow at Sango. "Is something amiss, slayer?"

"Just a little stomach trouble, Shimoko-sama," Sango said ruefully, offering a polite smile. "It's good to see you again."

"Indeed." The demoness' nostrils twitched. Then she scratched under the braid coiled at the back of her head and sighed. "I do apologize for coming on such short notice. My husband's damn company called him in to a seminar _again_, and Sesshoumaru went to join my mother in Hokkaido, so I thought I'd take advantage."

"Weren't you with her the other day?" Inuyasha demanded. "The wolf said something weird like that."

"Yes, I did join her for a short time." Shimoko held her free hand out to the side and made a come-hither gesture; a large duffel bag materialized, falling to the ground with a soft plop. She held Tadako out carefully. "Hold her for a moment, would you, Auntie?"

"Sure." _Wish I could do that. _Kagome settled the baby on her lap, and Tadako twisted around, watching her uncertainly as Shimoko rummaged through the bag for a shoulder cloth and a bottle. "Um…is there any chance we might get to meet her?"

"My lady?" A pack of cigarettes landed on the grass next to Miroku's hand, and he picked it up curiously. Shimoko snorted. "Sesshoumaru's head would implode if his mate came here without his permission, and she doesn't care enough to fight him about it, so I wouldn't bet on it. We usually don't spend much time together, either. We disagree with each other in general."

Miroku frowned at the pack. "What is this, Shimoko-sama?"

"Herbal cigarettes. You light the ends and inhale the smoke…" She took the baby back with a smile of thanks. "Most of them are made with poisons and chemicals that ensnare the body and mind, plus they make you smell funny and turn your teeth odd colors, and neither Sesshoumaru nor Mother can stand them. I can't stomach the smell of the real things, so I use herbal substitutes whenever I want an excuse to get away from them."

Inuyasha snatched the plastic pack away from Miroku and examined it with something akin to respect. "So you have it just to piss Fluffy off?"

"More or less." The old towel looked very, very strange against stunning deep-blue silk, but Shimoko draped it over her shoulder with no trace of self-consciousness, speaking conversationally as she fed Tadako. "It's partly for his sake, too. He's no more fond of my company than I am of his."

"Why's that?" Shippou asked innocently.

Kagome coughed. "Shippou-chan, that's not very—"

"Yeah, why is that?" Inuyasha tossed the pack back onto the bag. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"It's quite all right, Auntie," the demoness said calmly. "I partly came here because I wanted to tell you about it."

No one said anything, but the loose circle tightened as they leaned in. Shimoko chuckled dryly. "It is indeed an interesting story. I suppose you especially want to know exactly how I was permitted to marry a mere human without being disowned and possibly murdered, oji-chan."

"Hell yes," he said bluntly.

"Just as well that it's a nice day. This will take a while…" Shimoko sighed and shifted the baby.

"I was born not long after the fall of the Shogunate, in the Meiji era…ask Auntie for a history lesson later, but the gist of it is that I grew up just as Japan was making the transition from rigid isolation to rigid isolation with a few more foreigners and a lot of foreign technology allowed in. If I speak oddly, it's because my upbringing has been filled with conflicting…well, everything, if you've wondered about that.

"I've picked up this story in bits and pieces, especially since I didn't see much of either of my parents growing up. Sesshoumaru was busy making sure that the demons on his lands – yes, oji-chan, he has his own lands now, I'll get to that sooner or later – didn't do anything stupid or overly divisive, as the demons were as torn as the humans in debating whether the changes were for the better or not. Many believed that the humans would grow too powerful and numerous with their new weapons, and then some hoped that demon politicians would be able to gain a foothold in the human government by posing as foreigner ambassadors andmuddying the waters politically. Sesshoumaru wouldn't support any of it, though."

"I'm surprised that he didn't take the opportunity to destroy as many humans as he could," Miroku said quietly, folding his arms in deep thought. "His contempt for us runs very deep, does it not?"

"Contempt is a conscious state of mind, houshi," Shimoko replied, moving Tadako up to her shoulder and patting the baby's back till she burped up. Inuyasha had to look away, and hisniece raised an impeccably shaped eyebrow at him. "Sesshoumaru cannot be bothered to waste time hating humans any more than you would dedicate any thought to despising insects. They're there, and they may irritate you from time to time, but otherwise they have nothing to do with you. He dealt with them when he had to and ignored them otherwise.

"As to why I was permitted to marry Shiro…well, the reason goes back further than my birth." The dirty cloth came off the shoulder and was laid aside in case it was needed again. "I believe it came not very long after Sesshoumaru left this castle to wait for Grandfather's second mate to die." They all glanced at Inuyasha. His jaw was set, but he glared back defiantly, and Shimoko continued, "The various wolf packs were already beginning to feel pressure from encroaching human villages, and they often attacked them to drive them off their territory. Of course, Sesshoumaru couldn't have cared less what happened to wolves _or _humans so long as they stayed out of his way, but I've gathered from what Jaken once said when he was drunk that there was…an exception."

"Exception?" Kagome and Sango repeated simultaneously.

"Mmm. I don't know the full story, of course…" Shimoko restlessly pulled her braid from its coil and began tugging at it, letting Tadako grab the ends and evading the baby's attempts to put the hair in her mouth. "He and Jaken came upon a slaughtered village one day, nothing unusual, and found a little girl's fresh corpse on the outskirts. On a whim, Sesshoumaru used his Tenseiga and brought her back to life."

Kagome didn't know what was more impressive. "Back to life? A _human _girl? Why? Did he need something?"

"Absolutely, and no, he didn't. As I said, a whim." Shimoko sighed deeply. "The child was naturally very grateful and attached herself to him. I think he was amused with her, almost like a pet, and he even let her follow him and Jaken around for several years."

Something clattered on the ground nearby, and they all jumped. Shimoko stood slowly, quieting Tadako, and looked up at a young girl who had dropped a piece of firewood from a higher walkway. "Don't do that again," the demoness said with menacing softness, and the girl squeaked an apology, nearly shrieking with surprise as the wood popped back into the air in front of her.

"Idiot. Now…" She settled back down. The sun came back out from behind several clouds, and Shimoko sighed again. "Where was I?"

"Fluffy saved the brat for no reason?" Inuyasha supplied.

"Right. Well, the girl – I believe her name was Rin – stayed with him for many years, almost nine or ten. When Naraku was killed and this place sealed, he figured out that the castle was lost to him, possibly forever, and he was so angry that he killed everything in his path except Jaken and Rin for the next several days.

"That was how he encountered my mother, as well. Naraku had used trickery and brute strength in equal measure to gain sway over large parts of the countryside; when he died, all his offspring were hunted down and eliminated so that the threat would be extinguished and the land available for whoever else wanted to take control of it. Mother was and still is very powerful in her own right, but she was _most _annoyed at having to defend herself against a neverending stream of challengers and assassins, especially in light of her own hatred for Naraku. Even if she had wanted to acknowledge herself as Naraku's heir, she values her freedom above all else, and becoming Lady of the South was the last thing she would have asked for.

"Sesshoumaru happened upon her as she was slaughtering several lizard demons, and by that time, he had naturally heard of her already. I've never gotten the full details of the encounter, of course…" The demoness shrugged nonchalantly, smiling a little at her audience's rapt attention. "It is a good story, but I'm afraid all I know is the result. By all laws, the land was Mother's, but she didn't want it, and no one wanted her to have it. Sesshoumaru was deprived of his castle and people, with nowhere else to go. So…" She brought her hands together sharply. "They mated, Sesshoumaru took control, and Mother was left to do almost as she pleased under his protection."

"But she smells like Naraku!" Inuyasha's tone made it clear that not even huge tracts of fertile land and all the humans and demons within were necessarily worth mating with someone who smelled bad, and Shimoko inclined her head slightly in acknowledgement of the point: to many canine demons, it wouldn't be.

"True, oji-chan, but you know Sesshoumaru well enough. Think about it for a moment." Tadako began fussing, and Kagome silently requested to hold her. The demoness waited till the baby was quiet and then handed her over. "If he had truly despised the notion, would he have bothered to make such an arrangement?"

"Nope. He woulda killed her instead," Inuyasha conceded, ears moving back thoughtfully. "He always did have weird taste."

Shimoko chuckled. "As for Mother…well, little though I like him, I can't say _I _wouldn't be swayed by Sesshoumaru's looks if I were an unmated female. I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one who introduced the idea. And for a 500-year-old marriage, it does work fairly well, I'll admit…the fact that they go years without seeing each other probably helps, but she does love him in her own way, and he's more fond of her than he'd ever admit."

"That doesn't explain you getting married to a human." Inuyasha cast a cynical eye at the baby in Kagome's arms. "And a human with a kid from another marriage, too."

"Yep. I was getting to that part." Shimoko swiftly cracked her knuckles, dropping her formality just as suddenly. "I think Rin was…eh, not too old by then. Maybe her early teens. So Sesshoumaru starts looking for a husband, or a human family that'll take her in…"

Sango was already shaking her head sadly. The demoness nodded. "You got it. No one wanted a demon's whore, and neither of them pushed that hard to find somewhere to leave her. She was pretty stuck on him by that point, and after she hit puberty, like I said, I don't blame her for not wanting to leave." She cracked her knuckles again. "He kept her till she was…sixteen or seventeen, I think, something along that age, and his retainers were starting to talk by then. Mother didn't give half a crap if Sesshoumaru wanted to keep a human girl as a pet, but everyone else thought it was embarrassing for a big, powerful demon lord to have a human follow him around everywhere."

Inuyasha snorted. "So Fluffy fell for a human, eh? The next time I see him…"

"Officially, nope." Inuyasha's face fell. Shimoko smirked. "I said officially. I happen to know that his advisers finally bugged him into getting rid of her, but he was pissed about it for years afterwards. Aaaaand…" Her voice dropped to a whisper, and she glanced around. "Is anyone eavesdropping? This part's kind of confidential."

Inuyasha did a cursory inspection of the area, ordered two lurking boys away and plopped back down as they streaked off. "And? What's so important?"

"Well, he finally paid a powerful human lord to marry her and take care of her. He kept watch on her for the rest of her life…" Shimoko was speaking so quietly that they had to lean in to hear. "He almost had to take her back when her first child was born—a hanyou."

Silence. Then…

"_Holy **shit**!"_

"Shhhhhhh!" Shimoko waved her hands irritably, and Inuyasha ducked his head, ears flattened. Kagome glared at him, rocking Tadako to soothe her from the scare. "Dammit, oji-chan!"

"You said…" Inuyasha was almost beside himself. "That frogfaced asshole hypocrite! Do you have any idea how much shit he gave me for having a human mom?!"

"I got some ideas listening to him talk about how worthless humans are, yeah." Shimoko's face was set tightly with anger. "So when I asked around to find out why he gave the land with this castle on it to a half-breed, his enemies were _more _than happy to tell me what had happened. Rin's son was more protected than you were, thanks to his father being alive, but the only acknowledgement he ever got was the land, and Sesshoumaru made it pretty damn clear that if he even thought about ever trying to ask whether he could sell it or give it away, he was dead. He did die of old age not too long ago, I think."

Kagome worried her bottom lip between her teeth. That explained how the land had passed out of Sesshoumaru's control, at least…

Shimoko waited a moment longer, then continued when no one spoke up. "I don't even know my half-brother's name. I never saw him or talked to him, either. I do know he never married, and even if he did…" She caught Kagome's eye, and her expression was pained. "You wouldn't know this, Auntie, but on the very rare occasions that hanyou lived long enough to have children and actually got to have them, the children were hunted down even more zealously than the hanyou themselves. Humans didn't like the idea of having quarter-breeds around to blend into the human population. There's a slight difference in attitude nowadays with so many demon bloodlines thinning out, but not nearly enough." Kagome went pale, and Shimoko nodded slowly.

"So…your husband?" Sango asked delicately.

The demoness shook herself. "Right. Well, by pretty much all accounts, Rin was a very sweet girl, and the situation must've broken her heart, because before she died, Sesshoumaru actually came to visit her, and without her asking, he promised to watch over her human children to the best of his ability. This is Sesshoumaru we're talking about, too, so 'the best of his ability' means that if anyone touches one of Rin's descendants, he crushes them like a bug." Shimoko popped her knuckles, twice on each hand. "To make a very long story short, my husband is a Nakayama, and he's one of her last descendants. As naïve as he is, the best way to protect him is to keep as close an eye on him as I can, and if it means living with him…"

"I see," Kagome said slowly. She frowned. Why did that name seem familiar? "So Sesshoumaru couldn't kill you for doing your family duty, and he couldn't kill your husband 'cause he's…"

"Yep, yep and right. The only real stipulation is that we don't have children—that's fairly common even now in intermarriage, by the way, Auntie." Kagome looked down at the sleeping infant in her arms. "The fewer who know of it, the better, otherwise everyone would be trying to kill them just to spite us. Bastards."

Kagome was rather inclined to agree. "So, does your husband know about any of this?"

Shimoko laughed outright, leaning over to pat her hand to soften the impression. "No, no, dear, he does _not_," she said kindly, giggling despite herself. "Sorry, but if my Shiro even vaguely got the idea that demons existed, his brain would wither like a sponge in the sun. He's not stupid, but he's a little hardheaded about what's what and what isn't. I might be able to convince Tadako when she's a little older, but Shiro doesn't know anything about me other than my family is rich and I spend most of my day shopping or taking care of his daughter."

Responding to the unspoken request, Kagome gently handed Tadako back. "She's beautiful, Shimoko-san, and I wish you both the best of luck." She bowed deeply from the waist, and the other three humans swiftly followed.

"Thank you," the demoness said quietly, a sweet smile curving her lips. She tilted her head. "Forgive me for asking, Auntie, but have you taken any suppressant yet this month? You're getting fairly close."

"Oh! I forgot!" Kagome hopped to her feet, smoothing the front of her soft, long black skirt. "I'll be back, Shimoko-san…"

"There's no need to go right this moment," Shimoko said mildly, but Kagome was already hurrying away.

"Your nose must be very good," Sango remarked.

"With Sesshoumaru's blood stuck in my veins, I'm afraid so. It is useful, though." Shimoko rocked Tadako absently. "I have degrees – those are certification that you're an expert in a certain subject or field – in English, pediatric medicine, and gynecology, and if I ever decide to use them, I'd probably go with the latter." She cracked her knuckles yet again at their uncomprehending looks. "Gynecology is the study and care of women's bodies. It's a very specialized kind of medicine. I'm an expert in human women's anatomy."

"We're not really that different, are we, Shimoko-sama?" Sango asked.

"A bit. The basic plumbing is the same, and so is the process of childbirth…" The demoness grabbed the soiled towel and wiped drool and snot from the baby's face. "The biggest differences are the lengths of pregnancy and fertility, really. Did you know that human women can conceive at any time, even during their blood?"

Shippou looked blank, but Kohaku's face went redder than Inuyasha's haori, and neither of the two men was much better. Even Miroku was uncomfortable hearing it so matter-of-factly—and besides, he hadn't known that. "Don't human women have a period of fertility, just as demons do?"

"Yes and no, houshi-sama." Shimoko was too well-bred to enjoy their embarrassment openly, but, as interested as Sango was, she knew that the demoness had to be loving it. Not too long ago, she would've wanted totalk about something else as well…but now, she listened closely as Shimoko warmed to her subject. "Without boring you with too many details, a female becomes pregnant when her body releases an egg and the male catches her before the egg dies. In demons, the period where the egg is ready and they're most fertile coincides with the release of pheromones that puts her in heat; humans are most likely to get pregnant about two weeks after their period ends, give or take several days. The only problem is that human females are very inconsistent, and thus it can happen at any time.

"There are a lot of theories as to why some humans release pheromones a few days before they start bleeding, especially when human men can barely sense it anymore, but I agree with the idea of it being an evolutionary holdover designed to ensure that women _will _mate sooner or later. Or perhaps it was supposed to coincide with ovulation and fell out of sync as you evolved?" She shrugged gracefully, smiling to acknowledge that she had mostly lost them. "Fascinating stuff. All you really need to know is that you can never be sure, no matter when it happens."

"Why are we talking about this again?!" Inuyasha hissed.

"For my own amusement and for your edification, oji-chan." Shimoko sighed and got to her feet. "The sun loses its charm when one starts to bake in it. As soon as Auntie comes back, I must get going."

Inuyasha grunted. Something came to him, and he grimaced at Miroku. "Hey, bouzu. Go get some more medicine for Sango or something."

"Well, Kaede should be in the shrine now," Miroku agreed dubiously, rising with a curious look in his direction. "Perhaps you could go get it faster?"

"He's trying to get rid of you, houshi-sama," Shimoko informed them, and inclined her head towards the woods as Inuyasha sputtered. "Whatever it is you wish to ask or tell me, oji-chan, we can talk in here. We'll be right back."

Inuyasha was less than pleased, but he followed anyway, and as soon as Shimoko heard what he had wanted to ask, she understood why. He was profoundly grateful for a lack of pointed remarks about possible relationships or his relative intelligence; all he received this time was a gracious smile, required information and a promise to do as he wished, and they went back to where Kagome was now standing and making faces with no further damage.

"It's not very pleasant, is it, Kagome-chan?" Sango asked sympathetically. She had stopped taking it herself already, as neither of the full-grown demon males of her acquaintance were even remotely interested in her and Kaede's supplies were running low.

"What kind of stuff does she _put _in there?" Kagome had never tasted anything so foul in her life. It made chalky, astringent modern medicines taste like sugar.

_Mmmm. Sugar. _That reminded her of some of her mom's recipes. Kagome almost drooled thinking of some of them. _If I just had the ingredients, I could…hey, wait a—!_

"Auntie?"

Kagome blinked. "I'm sorry, Shimoko-san, what'd you say?"

"I asked if there was anything you'd like me to get for you—some food, perhaps, or books, that you can't get yourself living here." Shimoko winked. "You must be almost out of batteries at the very least."

"I am, actually." Trust a modern woman to know that a teenager would need more batteries. Kagome accepted a pen and a pad of paper the demoness had fished out of her bag. "Thanks so much, Shimoko-san." She scrawled down several things in English – batteries, sugar, brown sugar, syrup, and other odds and ends – and handed it back with a bow. "I really appreciate it."

"Not at all, Auntie." Shimoko hefted Tadako higher and waved her hand over the bag, which blinked out of sight. "I'll try to bring everything soon, perhaps by tomorrow. Till then, I hope I was able to help a bit—and you boys will remember our other discussion, won't you?"

That was the first time Kagome had ever seen Miroku blush. She wished she had a camera for his and Inuyasha's faces—

"OH!" She clapped a hand to her mouth. "Also, please, _please _bring a few disposable cameras, Shimoko-san."

Shimoko grinned broadly, exposing small but sharp fangs. "What an excellent idea, Auntie. I'll be sure to do that." She bowed again. "Till then…" Gone.

* * *

The rest of the day passed peacefully. The weather was so gentle, with the breeze balancing out the sun's light warmth in stark contrast to yesterday's blazing heat, that they remained in the shade and talked about nothing in particular for the rest of the morning, then returned after lunch and idled away the rest of the day. Kohaku and Shippou played tag briefly, but Kagome was too comfortable to join in, and so they flopped down and joined in the general lazing about till it was time for dinner. Then, in the general spirit of things, they sent Kohaku in for the food and ate outside once again. 

"I can't believe that about Sesshoumaru," Kagome said as they were finishing up, and she nodded impatiently at their warning looks. "I know, I'm not gonna say anything else, but still…"

"I'd like to get a look at that Rin." Inuyasha set his bowl down and burped quietly. "Any human wench that could reel Fluffy in had to've been pretty impressive."

"We'll ask Shimoko if her mom ever saw her next time." Kagome yawned and stretched out on the soft grass. "Hey, Sango-chan, you never finished your part of the game last night."

Sango sighed and lay back against a huge tree trunk, stroking Kirara as the little fire-cat nestled on her lap. "If you insist."

"I do," Kagome said lazily, letting her eyes drift shut.

"Hmmm…" Sango let Miroku sit close next to her and leaned against his shoulder in a rare display of semi-public affection. Inuyasha snorted quietly, but sat against another tree without comment. "My first…hmmm…well, I suppose my first is that the first time I saw Kirara change, I was terrified." She cast a warning look at her brother, but he kept his face blankly innocuous. "Second, I didn't have many friends when I was growing up." She sighed. "Last, I…" Her eyelids almost closed. "I'm glad things ended up this way, curse and all."

Inuyasha nearly swallowed his tongue. "That's _gotta_ be a lie!"

"Well…" Kagome opened her eyes and picked at a blade of grass. "If things hadn't turned out like this, she and Miroku-sama might not have been together, and Sesshoumaru would have attacked the castle, and we would never have met, and—"

"Tell me she's not right." Inuyasha rapped his claws impatiently on the dry ground. "You can't be serious!"

"I've gathered that the second must be true," Miroku said quietly. "As for the first…" He smiled suddenly and stroked the little cat under the chin. "Was she frightened the first time she saw you full-grown?"

Kirara raised her head and mewed, tails swishing in what definitely looked like an emphatic denial. Miroku chuckled, patting her with his left hand. "There you have it. That was the lie, not the third."

"You people are insane," Inuyasha grumbled, crossing his arms. He shot a glance at Kagome, almost accusingly. "What about you? Don't tell me you're glad you got caught here."

"It's not like I had anything better to do," she pointed out, and he gaped at her. Kagome shrugged. "Seriously, at least something _happened _to me at last. Besides…" She let her head rest on her arms, eyes closing again. "I'm glad I met you guys."

Inuyasha muttered a few choice words and looked at Kohaku, but the boy had anticipated him and was gazing at the sky. Shippou climbed onto Kagome's back and curled up, and Inuyasha decided not to bother in that case. "You're all nuts."

"Maybe. But at least we're in good company, right?" Kagome opened her eyes long enough to wink at him.

More than anything, that pointless little movement gnawed at the back of Inuyasha's mind as it grew darker and they were forced to go inside. Sango declared herself ready for a real bath, and Miroku, seeing that Inuyasha was in fairly deep thought, left him alone as they went back to Kagome's room.

When he judged that the women were almost done with their bath, Miroku cleared his throat. "So…" The monk spoke casually—too casually. "Shall we keep room arrangements intact tonight?"

"You mean the _usual _ones, where Kagome sleeps in _her _room and you sleep in yours, bouzu?" Inuyasha cracked his knuckles meaningfully.

"As usual, you mistake me." Miroku ignored the huge canines bared in his direction. "I presume you and Kagome-sama did nothing that would make proximity embarrassing for one more night—" He easily blocked a swipe at his head. "And Sango is still feeling the poison's effects and needs a bit more care. Last night worked out very well for us, and if it's not too much trouble…"

"It is." Inuyasha folded his arms stubbornly. "No way. I didn't get to sleep for _way _too long last night 'cause of her."

Silence.

"NO! That's not what I meant! She's just a pain in the…" Inuyasha bit the sentence off at the sound of footsteps in the hall. They passed, and Miroku took the opportunity to get out ofa light headlock. Inuyasha folded his arms again. "Just no."

"Now you're simply being spiteful." Miroku rapped him on the head lightly. "The servants can't do any more damage to your reputation or enhance hers any more as it is, so—"

"Enhance?! What the hell are you talking about?"

Sango and Kagome approached the room very slowly, and Shippou nearly crawled on his belly to escape detection as they got close enough to listen outside the shoji.

"Simple, Inuyasha. Whatever happens, it's because _you _are evil and Kagome-sama is not. According to the latest among the laundry maids, she's figured out how to ward you off and thus doesn't mind giving in to your demands that she sleep in the room next to yours."

Kagome didn't know whether to laugh, or laugh and then go hit someone. She exchanged a long look with Sango: she had told her friend all about last night, sans a few details, and the slayer was just as bemused as she was.

"But…" Miroku's voice rose lightly above what would probably soon coalesce into a black cloud of profanity around Inuyasha's head. "But the menfolk, for what it's worth, have agreed that you wouldn't do such a thing. The women think the men are getting naïve because we all worked together on the treehouse, but…"

Kagome chose that moment to go inside, and as there was a small knot of women coming down the corridor, she raised her voice. "So, Inuyasha, same arrangement? Switch _ofmyownfreewill _so Miroku-sama can take care of Sango-chan for the night?"

* * *

Not surprisingly, the descent of full dark and the rising edge of waxing moon saw Inuyasha sitting on his futon, ears trained behind him to follow Kagome's movements as she settled in. Why he was paying attention now and not the other times they'd spent the night in the same vicinity, he didn't know. He blamed the end of that stupid lie game. _Can't believe they're glad all this shit happened. Yeah, all our lives were kinda screwed up, but they weren't _that _bad, were they?_

The dark paintings on his wall didn't answer. He grunted and stretched out on his back, folding his arms behind his head. _Well, whatever. If it keeps 'em happy and I don't have to hear about it, good enough for me. _His ears fluttered as Kagome coughed sharply. "You dying or something?"

"Not yet," she muttered, turning onto her side. "What about you? You've been quiet for a while."

"Feh. Just thinking."

"What did I tell you about thinking?"

"Right, right. Gotta sit and drool instead."

"Good boy."

Thick silence.

"Inuyasha?"

Grunt.

"…Never mind."

"If you insist."

"I do."

"Good."

Awkward silence.

"That was a really interesting talk this morning. I hope Shimoko comes back soon."

"Yeah, she's bringing a lot of crap, too. Did you ask for anything edible this time?"

"You can always chew on the batteries if you want."

Beat.

"So you finally started taking that crap today?"

"Yeah, and I've discovered one more reason why being a girl sucks. That stuff is _nasty_."

Inuyasha deemed it wise not to bring up the alternative. "…Not that I care or anything, just outta morbid curiosity—did you really mean it when you agreed with Sango?"

"Yep." Kagome stretched out, angling her arms up and out like Buyo's full-body contortions, and lay back with a sigh. "Whatever happens, it'll happen. Till then, I like being here, even if you won't let me pitch in." Not to say that she never experienced any horrible angst, of course, but at least it wasn't a lie.

"Weirdo." Inuyasha yawned. "Maybe once everything's over, you can take a coupla things and sell 'em so your family'll stop bitching at you."

"What?" Kagome sat up. He'd said it so carelessly that she wasn't sure she'd heard right. "Take what?"

"Paintings, some old armor, maybe a katana or two. Shimoko said people pay out the ass for that kinda thing now."

Kagome had difficulty swallowing. "You'd let me have some of your family heirlooms?"

"Family?" He made a rude noise. "I never got anything but crap from my family, 'cept Mom, and there's plenty of stuff here that ain't hers. If havin' money'll keep that damn wolf and my jerkoff brother from harassing you, getting rid of some of this shit is the least I can do."

The newly restored shoji scraped open, and rapid footsteps brought Inuyasha around and to his feet warily. "What? What's wrong now?"

His eyes adjusted instantly, just in time to watch Kagome walk straight into him and fling her arms around his shoulders blindly. "Whoa!" Mindful of the bandaged bruise on her own shoulder, Inuyasha patted her back lightly to get her attention. "Oi! What's wrong with you? If it hurts your pride that much, you can always go back to eating squirrels, y'know…"

Kagome shook her head rapidly. "No, no, that's not it. I'm just…" She swallowed and squeezed as hard as she could. "Thanks for thinking of me."

Not only had he evidently consulted with Sango about it, but he'd also asked Shimoko: considering that managing financial matters was and still is left to women, it must have taken a lot of thought and a bit of tongue-biting for him to have reached that conclusion on his own. If circumstances had been different, she would have…

Kagome flushed. _Better not think of that. Things are _not _different—besides, I'm not a hooker or something. _

"S'not like I'm gonna need any of this crap," he grumbled, glad for the darkness. To him, the offer seemed perfectly logical, nothing to make such a big damn deal about, and certainly no reason to plaster herself on him like this. "So, yes or no?"

"We'll see." Kagome hated the idea of having nothing left of him except a few dusty paintings or weapons, and then having to sell those, and so she elected not to think of it. "I'll think about it. Thanks."

"Don't thank me. Fluffy, Jaken and a whole lot of other morons got you into this, 'specially me. It's the least I can do." Inuyasha nuzzled the top of her head before he could think about what he was doing, then nudged her away gently—not out of guilt, but because his face was getting a little too warm. _Stupid Shimoko talk. _"Plus, anything I can do to screw them over is a bonus."

Wrong thing to say. Kagome's scent shifted from soft pleasantness to spiky irritation as she stiffened and pulled away. "Right. Screwing Kouga and Fluffy over is good." She bobbed her head and stalked back to Miroku's room, leaving him with his mouth hanging open. "Good night, Inuyasha. See you in the morning."

"Wha…?" He blinked stupidly at the shoji as she groped for it, went in and screeched it shut. "What'd I do?"

"It's not you, just my imagination playing tricks on me again," she spat. "Good _night_."

"Uh…good—oh, right, will you marry me?"

"No chance in hell. Good night."

Inuyasha mistook bitterness for simple anger and bristled. "Look, yes or—"

"_NO."_

"…Oh. G'night."

No answer. Inuyasha lay back down on his futon, glaring uneasily at the other room. _What in all the hells is her problem now?!_

Kagome regretted snapping at him almost instantly; after all, it wasn't his fault she'd let herself read anything into his offer. _Stupid stupid stupid. Sigh… _"Good night, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha's ears swiveled back in unison. Whatever he'd done, he was forgiven already. That much he understood, at least. "G'night, Kagome."

* * *

A/N: Seems a bit on the short side to me…but that's because I'm a rambling psycho masochist when it comes to length, so pay no attention to that authoress behind (in front of?) the monitor. She decided to switch her routine around, sleep till 5 a.m. and _then _start writing for once. Hmmm…carry the one…yeah, this chapter took about six hours. I'll have to split this from the next one thanks to Shimoko's talk scene…oh, yes, and re: biological stuff, as I've mentioned, there actually is quite a bit of evidence regarding female pheromones during ovulation, but some of the research I looked up conflicts (and one never knows whether to trust research paid for by perfume companies that tout human pheromones despite the near-uselessness of the organ that senses it in the male nasal lining), so if you spotted any biological factual errors, I plead "fiction!" and apologize preemptively. 

…Point is, I'm discombobulated, but I should have the next one up soon anyway. (has "Everything You Know Is Wrong" stuck in brain) Cheers till then.


	32. Present

Disclaimer: I'm much too out of it to own Inuyasha. It makes sense if you take enough prescription medication, really…

A/N: Hoo boy. Slight delay here. Blame Christmas and family stuff and Life. They suck. …Well, except for Christmas.

Mmmm. Filler. Apologies to everyone hoping for actual story, but the way I am at the moment, I just might ignore my outline and do something _really _stupid ("Sango! You're really my half-brother!"). Yeah. Maybe something'll come up. Writing stuff now…

(Note: wrote this A/N just before New Year's, so it doesn't quite apply anymore; it does, however, provide a bit of insight as to why this chapter took so long. Moving right along--)

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 32**

Inuyasha knew his nose was semi-permanently attuned to Kagome's scent by now, even as he slept – he'd gotten used to keeping himself aware of his surroundings at all times after the third or fourth attempt to kill him as a child – but he was slightly surprised when he woke up feeling out of sorts, assessed his surroundings, and found that the girl had already left Miroku's room. That in itself wasn't as surprising or irritating as figuring out that he'd woken up _because _her scent had grown distinctly fainter. _Dammit. _He knew he shouldn't have let the bouzu whine his way into switching rooms again. Now the wench had one more way of screwing with his head and didn't even know it. _Dammit!_

Stomping down to herroomand findingKagome not in ithelped little. "Good morning," Miroku said pleasantly. The hanyou grunted, and Kohaku, who was using the TV as a backrest next to Shippou, promptly excused himself and went to go fetch their breakfasts.

"Kid needs to grow a spine," Inuyasha mumbled, sniffing the air discreetly. It was the work of an instinctive half-second to disassemble the layers of smell patterning the little room, and Kagome's was stale, from last night at the very latest. Where the hell was she?

"Not everyone is used to putting up with you, Inuyasha," Sango pointed out. She was propped up comfortably, Miroku hovering in close attendance even though she looked and smelled almost back to normal. "Kagome-chan is the exception, not the rule."

"Keh. That's why she snuck out this morning, is it?" He folded his arms into his sleeves, further irritated that she hadn't taken the bait and let him work off some energy like Kagome would have.

"Shewent to answer nature's call and saw no reason to come back and wake you afterwards," Miroku said reasonably. Inuyasha scowled. "I doubt it was meant as a personal insult." Inuyasha's eye twitched. "Kagome-sama no doubt merely wanted to avoid inconveniencing you." Twitch twitch. "It's really hardly anything to get upset abou—"

_"Who the hell said I was upset?"_

Three sets of deadpan looks were more than his diminutive patience could withstand, and he was halfway through the shoji – almost literally, till he caught himself and slammed it open – before they could react. "If the wench comes by, tell her to keep her ass here till I get back."

Inuyasha didn't wait to see their reactions, but took off at an angry stalk down the corridors, leaving servants whispering urgently to each other behind his back. Not for the first time, he wished they didn't all think he was some kind of monster. It would've been exceedingly convenient to be able to simply stop one of them and ask where Kagome was.

He was almost to the kitchen when an idle remark from a small side room brought him to a dead halt. "Never seen such a bad case of lovesickness all me life, not even all those girls after the houshi-sama."

Why this would interest Inuyasha, he had no idea: all he knew was that his feet suddenly didn't want to move, and his ears were so rigidly attentive that he nearly expected them to somehow try to pull the rest of him through the closed shoji.

"Aye," another old woman's voice agreed sadly. "None of those girls ever stuck to 'im so close as _she_ does to _him_, either."

Stupid gossip, probably talking about some brainless laundry maid and a pimply woodcutter whose voice hadn't even changed yet. That pretty much covered all the servants, he arbitrarily decided, even though he knew most of them were older and the younger ones much more presentable than that. There couldn't be any point to standing here and listening further. Why wouldn't his feet get that?

"But she's another suitor, doesn't she?" yet another wheezy voice chimed in. A light thud indicated that they were folding futons, probably in preparation to be taken out for airing. "Best to choose a man with solid breeding, I always say."

There were noises of agreement, and Inuyasha abandoned his resolution to wonder instead why they were being so damn vague. Why did they have to employ subtlety _now_? Was it deliberate, or just cruel coincidence?

"If she don't choose _him_, though, we're all…" The words trailed off into grim silence.

"It may be better for her _an' _for us, just let 'im get chopped an' some peace at last," the second speaker grumbled.

Inuyasha suddenly decided he liked vagueness much better. At least it didn't make him feel sick.

"The choice ain't ours, 'specially not when she's simple-hearted enough to love _him_." Footsteps sent him scrambling for cover even as his brain reeled. "Hold those tighter, Saya, or they'll slip. Did I tell you what that grandson of mine said to me last night?"

His ears decided that they didn't care about recalcitrant brats and relaxed, leaving him free to chew things over as he recovered his usual indifferent exterior.

Thatcrap about breeding, the suitor, and so on did sound quite a bit like himself and that damn wolf, not to mention the "peace at last" bit. But putting that together with Kagome would also mean they thought she was in love with him, and that wasn't really an option, either. At all. He didn't even know where to begin thinking about something that ridiculous.

Instead, a way around it came to mind, and he seized upon it gratefully: _Well, we _are_ talking about the same hags who still think I'm just taking a break from Sango. _Irritating as the thought was, it was also very soothing, and he released a huge breath he hadn't known he'd had captive. _That's another mark against 'em. Stupid dried-up crones and their damn stories are gonna drive me crazy before the damn curse is up at this rate. _

Yep, that was definitely a relief. Inuyasha set off again down the hall, concentrating on the slight humor in the situation. _Next thing you know, they'll be telling me Shippou is actually some kinda god in disguise or something._

He was vaguely wondering what the kit would do with unlimited powers when startled exclamations up ahead caught his ears. As he came around a corner and stopped, the source of the noise nearly flew right into him; Inuyasha pivoted on the ball of one foot and caught Kagome neatly around the waist just in time. "What the…?"

"Sorry," she said over her shoulder, grinning apologetically at the women she'd nearly knocked over. Her difficulty in standing upright and the streaks in the floor's waxy polish gave her away instantly. "I couldn't resist, and I didn't think anyone was coming this way." They bowed, murmuring apologies for impeding her.

The hanyou scowled at her. "Idiot." Kagome merely grinned wider, but Inuyasha was annoyed to see the servants' bemusement turn to disapproval, directed at _him. _He ignored them—so long as Kagome knew he wasn't really angry, he didn't care if they wanted to take her side. Never mind the fact that even the kids knew better than to slide on the floors… _Gotta give her credit for not falling on her ass, though. _"What do you think you're doing, anyway?"

"I went out to take my dose early, and I wanted to do something to get my mind off the aftertaste." She made a vividly grotesque face. "It tasted even worse today. I hope you appreciate it."

The servants remained impassive, but Inuyasha fancied he could feel their amusement as his face heated slightly. Did she have to be so damn direct? "Whatever. C'mon, it's time to eat."

Kagome shook her head, smiling a little. "I promised the kids I'd go back out to see them as soon as I told you I wouldn't be at breakfast. My appetite's pretty much shot thanks to that stuff."

"Why the hell did you take it before you ate, then?" Inuyasha caught the barest of coughs behind them, turned to scowl at the servants, and belatedly realized he was still holding Kagome's waist. He released it as if she was suddenly made of live coals.

"Itwasn't that badyesterday. Didn't make me feel like this at all." She shrugged, but her eyes were downright mischievous, and she rather casually let her bare arm brush his as she backed off slightly. If it wasn't for the servants' presence, he would've almost thought she was flirting with him…but the next moment, she was all business again, half-bowing. "Sorry for skipping out. I'll get something later if I get hungry before lunch."

"Not if I tell the kitchen staff you wasted their food," Inuyasha said absently, knowing that if he did, they'd listen solemnly, promise to be discreetly unaccommodating toward Kagome-sama at lunchtime, and then send someone to take her a packed box the moment he was gone.

"Cranky." She lightly tugged his forelock, less casual than usual. "I'll be out at the back."

"Back…?" Inuyasha shook off puzzlement and some unhealthy thoughts, sending the servants a pointed glare to deflect their avid scrutiny.

"Yep. See ya." She turned to give him a short, oddly sweeping wave, then sauntered off towards the entrance area, feet miraculously unwavering despite the wax she had to have accumulated on the bottoms.

Inuyasha couldn't stop his ears from flicking curiously. Sango had never acted like that when she took the suppressant…but then again, she'd been taking it for years. He'd have to ask the hag about it later. In the meantime… "You're dismissed." The women bowed and veered off in opposite directions as fast as their stumpy legs would move, no doubt seeking out whichever of their friends would spread gossip the fastest.

Well, this morning was shaping up to be fun already. He could deal with her being a little strange with him…he thought so, anyway…but having her run off without even Sango in tow was a little disappointing. It wasn't a big deal to admit that there was nothing else to do but keep the wench entertained, after all. _Or the other way around, _a little voice piped up. He told it to do something unspeakably rude, unaware that his countenance was provoking further whispering down the corridors. _Now what?_

_

* * *

_

Kagome knew she was in a weird mood; she'd woken up unusually energetic, and her decision to slip out without waking him was more based upon good sense than any desire to go visit Kaede for the foul-tasting stuff, which she'd been told she was really supposed to take three times a day, as she'd never had it before. _I came _this _close to going for a marker and coming back up to draw on his face before he woke up… _Definitely weird.

The brew had turned her stomachat the first sniff, but her strange liveliness hadn't diminished, and Kagome almost skipped as she went outside, to the ground level and around the side of the castle. Funny, but she'd never been so far back. It was where most of the servants slept, the younger, the further from the castle, so that the occupants thereof – who had been largely demon and endowed with sensitive, easily offended noses and ears – wouldn't be disturbed every time a lowborn infant or child woke everyone in the middle of the night.

It was a long walk with no one for company, starting out the side entrance she was accustomed to using. The shrine was on the opposite side, so that she had nothing to look at as she walked except some poorly maintained gardens, sheds, the little practice range they'd used when she tried out the bow – _maybe I should pick it back up again some time_ – and a strange, open, empty area tucked against the very back corner of the main keep. It gave her pause by virtue of its very ordinariness, as if it was trying to tell passerby not to look.

Kagome frowned, pausing about ten yards away, and took a step toward it. Where else had she felt something like this? …No,the impression it gave wasa lot different, but the same general kind of feeling—

"Kagome-sama! What a pleasant surprise," a woman chirped behind her, and Kagome shook herself, smiling and responding politely as several girls tumbled out of the huts to greet her. It momentarily became apparent that they had been too excited to tell their mothers and aunts about the visit, but several apologies and assurances smoothed things over slightly; Kagome was invited to discuss the weather with the more elderly ladies while the girls were shepherded inside to hurriedly clean their living areas should Kagome-sama want to inspect them.

Saki rescued her from an intense discussion of chickens and their living habits – especially one particularly fat hen and an oddly splotched cockerel chasing each other around in bizarre, dizzying circles – by coming out with Hanako on her hip. "Good day, Kagome-sama. Would you like to come this way for a drink, perhaps?"

"Thank you," Kagome whispered as soon as they were out of elderly earshot—perhaps three feet away. Then, in a normal tone, she asked after the twins' health, Saki's other children, and the other servants in general. "I understand some of them have been sick?"

"Oh, no, a little weakness, nothing more, Kagome-sama," the older woman replied quickly, shifting Hanako. "Please forgive me, Kagome-sama, but I hear Yukiko—"

"Not at all. May I?" Kagome accepted the baby and Saki's words of thanks, bemused as the woman hurried off and a full-throated wail began to build from one of the back huts. Saki had doubtless been keeping an ear out for her, and Kagome, eyeing the oldsters gathered around the chicken coops, marveled at the sheer energy the women had to have to keep up with their chores, the children, and their own needs here. Of course, there was no onein the castleto take care of except her and Inuyasha, but…

Hanako fussed, and Kagome made her trademark buzzing noise. Thankfully, it worked again – tricks like that usually failed when they were needed most, in her experience – and Hanako seemed content to let the strange girl hold her for now, watching Kagome gravely.

_Whew. _Kagome sank to her knees in the shade, examining the baby absently in the respite before someone found her and started trying to pamper her again. The scrunched little features were beautifully compact, a soft blob of dark hair covering the baby's awkwardly shaped crown. _She smells a lot like Souta did when he was really little. _Despite the heat and the infant's weight, Kagome stood again, rocking her from arm to arm and humming her favorite waltz. _Crap. Should've asked Saki how long she was going to be. _…Well, she'd been in a hurry…but, still, Kagome couldn't very well put the baby down or go wandering around the huts like this…

A huge smile suddenly broke Kagome's absent reverie, and she grinned at the baby, unable to restrain a giggle at the thought of a pair of tiny ears atop her head. _Good Lord, Inuyasha had to have been SO cute when he was born! Wonder if any of the older servants could show me in the mirror… _What would a half-hanyou baby look like...?

Prickles on the back of her neck had her alert and scanning the area instantly; the old women drew back, muttering angrily amongst themselves as Kirara came forward in her large form and the girl sighed in relief. "Don't scare them like that, Kirara," Kagome advised without coming out of the shade.

The fire-cat rumbled,flaring back into her kitten size as the commotion drew out the immediate huts' occupants, who promptly exclaimed over Kagome-sama having to stand out in the heat, holding a baby, unattended, et cetera, and one of Saki's friends took Hanako, freeing Kagome to be seized by the children and politely dragged inside.

The girls were enjoying a pre-lunch break and now also got to bask in the prestige of having not only an older girl who was genuinely interested in them to show off to their friends, but Kagome-sama herself; those who joined them, not to be outdone, also wanted to show Kagome their huts, their favorite rag dolls, any precious bits of paper onto which they had managed to dab their names, a few battered hair clips and formal kimonos brought out of storage with great flourish, an old turtle shell whose origins were viciously debated till Kagome asked for a drink of water, sending them all scrambling to be good hostesses…

All were treated with appropriate respect and admiration on Kagome's part, and by the time the sun stood directly overhead, the girls' shyness and reserve were gone. As Kagome had expected, she was treated a long round of very respectfully prying questions: why she was wearing such funny clothes, why she looked like, well, another lady they used to know, where her family was, whether she was going to, well, _you _know—

Finally, a pair of laundry maids, aunts and mothers of several girls in Kagome's impromptu court, located the hut housing most of the noise and scolded the children for their imposition on Kagome-sama's kind patience, begging the latter to excuse their lateness in curbing the children's enthusiasm.

"Oh, no, it's really no trouble," Kagome said honestly, remembering what a treat it had been when Akemi or Nabiki had tolerated her and her friends when they were very small. That seemed to be another universal point, regardless of time or circumstance: little girls loved to have older girls to pay attention to them, and, as her own mother had once cautioned a family friend's teenage daughter in front of 5-year-old Kagome and Yuka, "They'll show you their underwear if you let them."

_Well, at least I got away without a game of dress-up. _She left the huts exhausted but nostalgic, as full of goodwill as she'd come, and flattered when Kirara jumped onto her shoulder to ride along the way she normally did with Sango. _Their moms are probably just happy I didn't teach 'em any more farting noises. _The hula hoops had also been misplaced at the earliest possible excuse, she'd noticed, and she couldn't blame them, either.

It was awfully hot, though, almost as bad as the day before yesterday. Kagome gathered the front of her light, sleeveless blue-checked dress, trying to swirl the knee-length skirt around to get some cool air moving. _What's Inuyasha mad about now? _Her efforts to get that scowl off his face – or at least knock some of the real grumpiness down – had seemed to confuse him. Maybe it had been a little much, but her adrenaline had been flowing, and she couldn't help it.

Kagome giggled despite herself, veering her steps off towards the woods despite Kirara's questioning mew. _Whatever was in that stuff, maybe I shouldn't complain so much about the next doses. _True, she'd woken up feeling uncharacteristically perky – man, what a long word…'uncharacteristically,' of course, not 'perky' – but…

But it was friggin' hot, no mistaking it. Kagome flapped her dress again. She still wasn't hungry—maybe she shouldn't go inside yet. Sango had been feeling better, and Miroku was there to take care of her anyway. If Inuyasha wanted company, well, he was a smart puppy and could find her in a snap…especially since it was so bloody hot. No way she was going in without going for a swim first. Time to switch directions, into the woods.

She just barely caught herself skipping. "Easy, Kag, you're not six years old," she murmured aloud, then yelped as she stepped on a stone the wrong way, slipped and fell directly backwards, as if the forest floor was metal and her butt magnetic. "Ow…" She eased up onto her feet, patting the area in question to ensure that it wasn't damaged. _Magnets would hurt, besides the way they'd have to put 'em in in the first place, but they'd be interesting. I'd be just like…which girl was it in that one manga, with all the unbelievably pretty guys, the one who wouldn't quit whining and always got in trouble and fell down and tried to look cute a lot and got all the guys just because she was the star? What was her name…? Rhymes with an English word for poop and our word for 'idiot'…_

Okay, that did it. She sounded like she usually had on her birthdays before her family's little personal version of the Great Depression, except worse. _…Can't believe I forgot about that manga. Ye gods, those guys were gorgeous. Why four or five of them wanted an airhead like…the annoying girl…I remember, we spent hours trying to figure that out. _

That was probably her problem, just too much nostalgia. A little exercise was definitely in order, or else she was going to make an ass of herself in the castle.

Kirara mewed again, more displeased, and Kagome explained that she wanted a swim before she headed back inside. The little cat looked stricken at the prospect of permitting oneself to get wet, but leapt down obediently. Instead of transforming, though, she scurried off ahead, confusing Kagome till she realized that the way the river curved, it was probably much faster to walk to a bend of it near the castle instead of flying to the area she knew. Besides, it only made sense for the servants to be able to get water from a close source.

Sure enough, it was less than a minute on a well-worn path to reach the water, and Kagome wasted no time kicking off her shoes, nearly running straight into the river with a laugh of sheer anticipation—and a yelp as her feet encountered _cold _and wet. "I know, I know!" she called at a knowing sound from the fire-cat on the bank.

Well, it was either cold or hot, and she was too sweaty to tolerate hot much longer. Emitting little squeaks at random, Kagome forced herself to wade into the frigid water, standing in brief indecision on the smooth rocks as the slow current lapped icy wetat her knees. _Eh. Here goes. _

Kirara went rigid with shock as her charge suddenly threw herself forward, slapping the water with her feet in a deft forward kick and soaking the fire-cat to the skin. If she had had vocal cords, Kagome was sure as she surfaced and burst out laughing at the sodden little demon's feline indignation, Kirara would have had some _very _choice words for her. As it was, she could only shake herself off, stalk away with utmost dignity, and curl up at a safe distance, pointedly ignoring Kagome's laughing apology.

Her body soon became accustomed to the frigid water.Aware that she was alone save for a highly disinterested Kirara, Kagome slipped back under, delighted to find that her skirt wasn't _too _heavy underwater for her to swim. Even when her breath ran out and she tired of kicking with the heavy material in her way – no _way _she was going back for her swimsuit or taking the dress off – Kagome could just surface, lie on her back, and float, letting the sun bake her face to make the occasional dip back under even sweeter as her thoughts rambled.

_This reminds me of a song…well, probably a bunch of 'em, as long as I'm frolicking like this… _What a stupid word. No one actually ever used it, except maybe in porn movie titles—not that she would know, of course. _That definitely reminds me. What was that depressing musical I stopped listening to a while back…? _It had been fairly new, but she'd put the burned CD away after only a few times through. Too ironic, dark and melancholy for her, even if she did like the music. One melody in particular,introducing the hero, a charming ne'er-do-well of a prince whose love for the unfairly reviled heroine had caused his death, or something like that, she didn't care to remember…well, at least his first number was happy, in a cynical kind of way.

Even as Kagome grimaced, she had to laugh. Lying around like this was eerily perfect, almost _too _well-suited for that song. Something about dancing through something, totally inappropriate yet appealing the first time she'd heard it on her Discman as she cleaned out the bathroom…despite herself, she could still remember several verses.

Kirara's ears lifted from her snoozing form as Kagome's voice drifted from the middle of the river, singing words that would have bemused the cat had she understood English.

Pleased by her lack of rustiness, Kagome continued, skipping around or substituting forgotten words freely with no one around to criticize or know the difference.It was fun to pretend she had no obligations but to swim around and annoy Kirara with her singing for now, though. And in all this space, she could hear that her vibrato wasn't bad at all. If she worked at it, she might actually be an okay singer some day.

Oooh, that last note was fun. She'd have to try holding it longer next time. In the meantime, though, her body was indicating that swimming and singing was for mermaids, not human girls in operatic moods, and it was tired of supporting her for now. Her shoulder also reminded her politely that the bruise wasn't entirely gone, and she usually liked to heed those kinds of warnings.

The dripping cotton dressbegan to smother her the moment she reluctantly left the water, stepped onto a relatively dirt-free patch to avoid muddying herself and lay down comfortably, head pillowed on her arms. Sunlight mercifully lifted as the sky clouded over, and Kagome let out a long sigh. _This is the life. _

Another song popped up, and as she placed it and dredged up some lyrics, Kagome smiled a little. Going from carelessness to wild hope, another song she'd liked. It tended to make her think extremely unlikely but pleasant things.Maybe she could appeal to Kikyou…and maybe Inuyasha would hit his head, forget about the priestess, and declare his love for _her _instead for absolutely no reason, so she could accept him without reservation, and then Kouga would leave her alone, and Sesshoumaru would disappear, and her family could go live in the Bahamas and they'd all live happily ever after. _…But if he hit his head, he wouldn't remember to propose. …But if he loved me, he might anyway._

Really. She was getting soft in the head again. Sobered by her own idiocy, Kagome stretched out, catlike, twisting her cooled muscles into a more comfortable position as the energy seemed to seep out of her, into the grass under her back.Then she flung her forearm over her eyes, still-chilled flesh scalding her hot eyes. If that stuff she was taking was supposed to keep Inuyasha from attacking her in a few days, she wasn't even sure she _wanted _to take it—

_No! _Kagome forced herself to sit upright, dragged herself to the water, and slipped her feet in, letting the cold shock her back into some semblance of good sense and out of thoughts she'd thought buried safely. _I'm _not _going to throw myself at him and hope he'll take me anyway. I'm _not _desperate enough to seduce him. I'm not. _She edged herself in up to the waist, sitting half submerged. _He's not mine, and he's not going to be, so get your mind out of the gutter, Kag, or you're just gonna embarrass everyone. _Tears threatened again. Where was that unnaturally good mood now? _Does that stuff induce PMS early and get it out of the way, or what?_

Almost unthinkingly, she dove forward into the water, not noticing that Kirara was gone till she kicked to the bottom, spent a few long moments staring up at the dully sparkling surface, arched up…and spotted a familiar pair of bare feet standing right where she'd been sitting.

Gloom vanished almost instantly, and from her vantage point just under the surface, Kagome smiled. Was he looking for her? She slowed her strokes and made her way towards the banks, swimming toward him at an angle he couldn't see without being under as well.

Inuyasha couldn't believe he'd lost sight of her. He'd tracked her from the servants' huts to the river, and as she started singing yet another other-language thing – honestly, how many did she _know_? – he'd come forward and indicated to Kirara that he would take over guarding her. The cat had been only too glad to relinquish her post, and Inuyasha's amusement and care to avoid being seen had worked against him: he had been watching the forest and listening in absent approval to the snatches of song, only looking for her when sound and scent disappeared under the water. Now it was almost a minute later, and he was rapidly approaching the outskirts of panic. "Kagome?" He'd even stepped into the river, too worried and irritated to enjoy the cold on his feet or mind being in non-bath water. "Oi! This isn't funny, dammit!"

Nothing. No bubbles, and when he angled his head to look further out, he could see plenty of fish, rocks, grass, water, and a notable lack of Kagome. Where the hell was she? She was too unnatural to drown, he told himself repeatedly, scanning the river. He'd _seen _her swimming around likesome kind of scaleless fish, and she hadn't had time to…had she? "Kagome, get your ass out here! _Now_!"

"Something wrong, oji-chan?"

Inuyasha whirled around, and he had the briefest impression of his niece standing a few feet away with an odd silver shape held to her eye before a flash blinded him. "What the…" He stumbled back, raising an arm to swipe at his vision. "What the hell did yahhhOW!"

Shimoko raised an eyebrow at the splash as his heel slipped and he fell heavily backwards, tailbone jarring painfully on a large rock; he was too angry to notice another flash, though, as Kagome's head had popped up just under the lip of the bank's edge to swim over where he was now sprawled on his back in freezing water, and the wench had the temerity to look _amused _as well as concerned. "Are you okay, Inuyasha?"

"What the _fuck _makes you think I'd be okay?" Inuyasha lunged forward and grabbed her forearms, heedless of how his hair and clothes were getting soaked as he shook her angrily, barely minding his strength or claws. "Don't _ever _do that again! What if something had grabbed you under there! Do you think it's funny to scare the shit of me like that, or were you just too brain-dead to think of it?" Before Kagome could do more than flinch, Inuyasha yanked her off balance, catching her awkwardly against his chest. One sodden red sleeve thumped her back as his arm looped around her shoulders, pressing her so closely that she could feel him trembling, heart thumping impossibly fast. "You _idiot_!"

"I was over there, against the bank," Kagome said lamely, ducking her head unconsciously in shame. She had no clue he would get _that _worked up. But, then again, why wouldn't he? She could hold her breath much longer than most people…

Too remorseful to look up, Kagome tried to burrow into the wet haori. "I'm really sorry."

"Stupid moron. Don't _ever _scare me like that again, or I'll…" What he would do was never made clear, but she understood the way his cheek rested against her wet hair and his arms kept her gently trapped against him just fine, and Kagome relaxed into him.

"Stupid." The whisper sounded odd, so unlike his worried recrimination that Kagome pushed herself up to look him in the eye. He was looking at her, almost distantly, but when she flushed and tried to pull back, hands on her upper arms kept her in place. Her face heated further. _What's he doing now?_

What he was doing was thinking of the servants, and their stupid theories, and their mindless gossip and harebrained conclusions. He'd been trying to ignore it, but she wasn't exactly helping right now…

If Kagome seemed more tolerant of him, even seemed to _like _him where no one else ever had, that didn't mean she was in love with him. She wasn't _that _stupid. If she liked being around him, he could chalk it up to her weird notions of friendship. If she didn't mind touching him and was genuinely upset with herself for upsetting _him _now, it just meant she was a good person. If she'd kissed him—

He didn't mean it, really, but he was only…well, half human, but entirely male, and adrenaline and relief ignited an oft-ignored corner of his brain, which now sprang to life, cut in and finished for him, while the rest gaped and stuttered in shock: if _she'd_ kissed _him_ before, she wouldn't mind if he tried it now, right? Right. …Would she? Only one way to find out.

Kagome didn't quite understand what was happening till it happened. One second, a thoughtful look. The next, a gentle pull on her forearms and ruby eyes drifting alarmingly close. Half another and her cold lips suddenly weren't so cold anymore, her vision obscured by a near-closed eye and striped cheek. Wet fingers trailed up her bare arms; she leaned up and closed her eyes, began to lean up harder—

_Flash _and the warmth was gone, the imprint of light dancing under her left eyelid. Inuyasha had jerked his head away, whirling her around so that he was between her and the bank. "What the hell was that?"

"Didn't Auntie explain what a camera does, oji-chan? The flash probably isn't necessary, but it is a bit cloudy now, after all." Shimoko did not smirk or otherwise tease them as Inuyasha looked up at her, then down at Kagome's wide-eyed, mortified expression.

Then he suddenly recalled information about cameras he'd received one very short, angry conversation almost two months ago, looked at Kagome's face again, and realized what she'd just caught them doing. "You _didn't_!"

"You need to give me more information than that before I can deny or confirm doing something, you know." The demoness was looking at the object, the camera, and fiddling around, making little sounds completely alien to Inuyasha's indignant ears. "I didn't…what?"

"Shimoko-san, why did you do that?" Kagome asked plaintively, almost childishly, from behind Inuyasha's rigid back. She'd thought Shimoko liked her, too!

"It would've been criminal _not _to, dear Auntie. You may treasure this some day, after all." She tossed it casually from hand to hand. "Ask oji-chan what he was doing kissing you when he knew I was here."

"You did?" Kagome asked, the same time Inuyasha snarled, "It's none of your damn business!"

"Yes, he did, and we've established that it _is_ my business already, oji-chan." Her tone hardened. "Here are the things you requested, Auntie. If you'd like to start now, I believe lunch is over." Kagome took the hint and the opportunity to get up, giving Inuyasha the briefest and sweetest of embarrassed smiles before she climbed out.

Inuyasha tried not to notice the way the wet cotton clung to her, failed spectacularly, and was further annoyed to notice Shimoko noticing, though she mercifully kept quiet and made no move to use the camera again. He stared at the water instead as the sun emerged from the clouds, baking them steadily.

Shimoko said something else to Kagome, and when he glanced up at the sound of footsteps, the girl was gone, his niece kneeling not far off. "Well…"

"Well what?" Inuyasha steeled himself.

"Well, the suppressant's failing spectacularly. Her cycle's going to start too soon for that." He frowned suspiciously at her crisp, objective tone. She ignored him and held up her palm, letting a small box fall into it out of thin air. "Here's the item you requested last time. I'll send it to your room—" The box was gone before he could inspect it further. "And I've also a small something to give her. I was going to wait, but at this rate, you'd best give them to her and tell her to put them on immediately."

Inuyasha sat up, hauling himself out of the water, scowling as she wrinkled her nose ever so slightly at his smell. Her voice remained even, though, and she pulled another box from nowhere with a little flourish. "See…" Shimoko held it up on one palm, passed her free hand over it twice, and swept the lid off without appearing to touch it the second time. "Ta-da!"

"What the…?" Inside the box, on some downy white stuff that reeked of overpowering perfume, was a little nest of metal loops, two gold and two silver, all etched with curving designs. "I don't want this crap."

"Idjit." Shimoko flicked the lid from where she'd concealed it between her fingers, thumping him square on the nose. "For one, it's _not _for you, remember? It's for Kagome, but you also benefit. And for another, these cost more than twice what her father's house in Tokyo did when they were still wealthy, so you'd best appreciate it."

"And how do I benefit from this…stuff?" Inuyasha gingerly lifted one loop with his claws, surprised at the metal's delicacy. "It's too small to go on her neck."

"There are four bands there, oji-chan. She has four limbs, and jewelry is fairly common nowadays. Do a bit of arithmetic." Shimoko neatly snatched the gold loop from him. "Now, listen carefully, because this spell is very intricate."

That got his undivided attention, and he obediently took the box as she indicated he should hold it while she put them on. To his surprise, she slipped each gold loop over a wrist, and managed to wrangle the silver onto her ankles with more difficulty. "I _hate _putting these damn things on. Never did like anklets…"

That said, she held out her arms, and the breeze shifted to her back, wafting directly into Inuyasha's face. "Notice anything?"

Inuyasha prepared himself for the blast of Fluffy/Naraku scent…and blinked. The residue of his niece's smell was still there, on the box he was holding and the ground where she'd stood, but the more the wind blew, the less of Shimoko he could smell. That should have been impossible, so long as she was there to give scent off. "What happened to…?"

"Yep! As long as I wear these, no smell." Shimoko removed the gold bracelets, and suddenly her scent was so strong that he almost gagged on it. She scowled. "Something else worth mentioning: she can wear the gold to diminish her scent without extinguishing it, but the silver alone will emphasize it. I bought these with a mind to keep her from having to take that awful stuff, but sometimes you'll find the silver quite useful, too—mind out of the gutter, oji-chan! I was referring to bad weather, illness on your part, or any other case in which you might need to track her scent." His look remained stubbornly skeptical, though inwardly he was already wondering how in the hell he was going to repay her for the convenience. "That's it, really, for now, though I've also been asked by Kouga to deliver something while his cohorts are busy playing in Hawaii…"

Inuyasha snarled reflexively, but the obvious followup to that remark evaded him as Shimoko, cursing, removed the anklets and placed them back in the box, her camera swinging from a wrist strap. He coughed, trying to sound casual. "When does that thing make those picture things?"

"When I tell it to." Shimoko smiled faintly, but she lapsed into silence, and whether he was grateful to avoid her nagging about Kagome or disappointed in not being able to satisfy his sudden curiosity about what it looked like on that thing, he didn't know.

He did know a second later, when she bowed and raised her hand to transport herself away. "Oi!" It came out so gruffly that Shimoko stopped dead, both eyebrows raised. Inuyasha swallowed, looking around despite himself, and his niece drew a little closer, expression elaborately casual to encourage what was evidently going to be an interesting question. "Do…" He glanced around again, and it took all of Shimoko's patience and training not to squirm or urge him on. "Do girls now do…that…a lot?"

Silence. Shimoko's eyebrows nearly joined her elegant hairline. "You mean kissing?"

"Does it mean anything?" Inuyasha's face rivaled the shade of his eyes, head bowed and voice so low that a human wouldn't have known he'd spoken. "Just yes or no."

Shimoko composed herself, speaking as neutrally as she knew how—considering she had well over a century of listening to Sesshoumaru to her credit, this was saying quite a bit. "Well, attitudes and rules governing courtship have changed a great deal, and modern girls will often kiss or…become intimate with males they don't necessarily intend to marry—_but _girls with integrity never do so unless at least some degree of feeling is involved, and fidelity is still highly prized." She let that hang, then added, almost as an afterthought, "If she makes the first move, especially, you shouldn't assume that she's permissive with every male she knows unless you've observed it firsthand, and you have an advantage over human males when it comes to detecting that sort of thing." He caught and accepted the subtle rebuke with a short nod. "You're very lucky in that the females you know are very closely committed, one way or another. It's simply up to you to decide the next step."

Inuyasha couldn't help snorting. "Kagome's not committed to anyone. She already told me."

Shimoko didn't answer, but her scent remained steady, discounting the possibility that she'd disappeared as the seconds ticked by. He hazarded a glance up at her downturned face, light playing on her features from the thing in her hands. "What're you looking at?"

"A fairly solid commitment." A glance, cryptic as her tone. The brightness flicked off, and Shimoko was gone in a whisper of wind.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Inuyasha's brows knitted. He gazed up at the forest on the opposite bank and blanched as rapidly as he'd just been blushing. "Kikyou!"

The priestess said nothing. She looked at him, head tilting slightly to one side, and drifted backwards, losing herself amongst the trees. Inuyasha stood by the river alone, letting his haori drip freely, and let his mind wander, more confused than he'd been in a long, long time.

* * *

Kagome was delighted at the speed with which the kitchen workers agreed to help her in cutting up and preparing the things she brought in as they began to prepare dinner, and even happier with the way the final product turned out. 

"It looks delicious, Kagome-sama," one freckle-faced girl told her earnestly.

"Thanks, Koharu." Kagome swept away the last of the apple shavings, giving the bowl one last shake. "Do you want to try it first, or should we go find Inuyasha first?"

"I believe Inuyasha-sama and the houshi-sama are having a practice match in the second courtyard," a woman remarked thoughtfully.

Kagome blinked. That was new. To her knowledge, they hadn't done so for well over a month, at least. "I guess we should go tell them it's ready so we can eat it before supper."

Sango wasn't in the room, which had the unused feel of a place that hasn't recently been occupied, so Kagome shrugged it off and went outside. From there, the duel was easy to locate from the sounds of grunting, sword striking staff, and cursing.

"Hey, Sango-chan," she greeted her friend as the little crowd of lingering servants parted respectfully for her. "What're they doing? Besides the obvious."

The slayer rolled her eyes. "Inuyasha was feeling out of sorts, so he challenged the houshi-sama to a duel to work it off. They have a wager going, too."

"Oh, really?" Kagome watched Miroku gracefully dodge a double-handed swing and retaliate with a series of quick jabs with the razor-edged staff head. She took more interest in the exercise as it dawned on her what Miroku would ask if he won. "Hoo, boy…"

"What's that, Kagome-chan?" Sango had spotted the little bowl in Kagome's hands.

"Oh, it's—"

The fight was very abruptly over. The sound of Inuyasha's head meeting the ground startled everyone in the vicinity, and Kagome made a face at Miroku's show of kneeling next to Inuyasha to make sure the hanyou was all right.

"…my fault you cheated!" the loser was hissing as they approached. If the purpose had been to make him feel better, Kagome judged that it had rather fallen short. Inuyasha looked more apoplectic than relaxed. "I want a rematch!"

"Too late," the monk said lightly, hopping nimbly over a swipe at his ankles and coming over to them with a bow. "Witnessed, I hope?"

"Nope, we weren't watching," Kagome said honestly, and Miroku's head fell to the side with a dramatic sigh.

"You lost fairly, Inuyasha," Sango told him, scowling. Kagome was relieved to see that she was largely back to her normal self, standing unaided and unwavering under Inuyasha's glare. "You know the conditions set before the fight."

"Yeah, yeah, but it's _one more _night. That's it, or I'll skin you both myself." Inuyasha slammed Tetsusaiga back into its sheath and stalked past them, ignoring Kagome's attempt to get his attention.

"Let me guess…" Kagome would have put her head in her hands if not for the bowl. "I'm bunking with Grumpypants again tonight?"

"And all by virtue of Inuyasha's gullibility." Miroku was nearly beaming, and both women looked at him warily. He raised his hands at the unspoken accusation. "Now, now, my dearest ladies, I only suggested that I wondered why Kagome-sama would come out here unclothed, and he was simple enough to take my suggestion at—"

A swift blow cut him off, and Sango raised her fist again threateningly as he protested that the fault lay with Inuyasha for succumbing to such an obvious diversion. Kagome didn't know whether to laugh or join in the beating, and settled with heaving a sigh as she headed back inside, leaving them to argue and entertain the servants who had missed the fight. Shippou would appreciate the treat, even if no one else would.

* * *

"There you are." 

It was nearly dusk by the time Kagome found him. He was in their usual dining room, even though there was no food set out and she'd already eaten with the others. She sat down, squinting across the table at him in the nearly nonexistent light. "You okay?"

He grunted, and she opted not to tease him. "Here…" She set the bowl down on the little table, prying the lid off and shaking the syrup from its underside as he peered in noncommittally. "It's something Mom used to make for us on hot days. You can bake 'em when it's cold, but I like these better."

As he looked for chopsticks, Kagome shook her head, reached into the bowl, and daintily picked out a sliver of apple, popping it into her mouth quickly. "They're apple slices. Apples are a kind of fruit, very good for you, and these are a little on the sweet side. I added some other spices and stuff, so you might not like it, but I wanted to offer anyway." She giggled. "Shippou and Kohaku almost came to blows over it."

"That bad, huh?" Inuyasha speared a piece on one claw and ate it carefully, glad for the darkness. Otherwise, she might've caught his expression of surprise at how little he hated the stuff. He speared another.

"It's not much, just apple slices, some light syrup, brown sugar and cinnamon," Kagome said conversationally, waiting for him to take another before she reached in. "So…looks like I'm up here again tonight."

He grunted. She'd already bathed and eaten, so she'd probably want to go to sleep now. "Well, it's not…like…" Memory deftly whapped him upside the head. "Oh, yeah, Shimoko had something for me to give you."

The mention of the demoness had her face red almost instantly, but Inuyasha was already up, grabbing another slice as he stood and went back into his room, leaving her little choice but to follow.

The silence was a little awkward, and she tried to think of something lighthearted to say. But the vestiges of her dark mood from the river crept over her as they walked, and Kagome nearly squirmed with self-consciousness as she settled to her knees just inside his room.

"Here." Inuyasha grabbed a box from under his futon and thrust it at her, retreating to his haunches a few feet away. "Put 'em on so I can explain what they do."

Kagome swallowed hard, stuffing down all sorts of things she wasn't supposed to be feeling. There was a pair of braziers lit near the window, and she moved near them, lifted the lid, and caught her breath.

"You owe Shimoko," Inuyasha grumbled, kicking his futon's cover aside and sitting on it so he wouldn't have to look at her. "You can tell the hag you don't have to take that crap from her any more." He was too angry with Miroku for putting them in this situation, too busy trying to remember what the things did, to realize he'd said something reasonably amusing without meaning to. An irate glance at her: she wasn't moving, just staring at the box. "What, you've never seen those things before?"

"Things?" Kagome swallowed again, and she squinted at him in confusion. "There's…there's only one."

Inuyasha muttered under his breath and came up beside her to look at the box. To her dismay, he growled deeply, slamming to his feet and stalking away. "Fuck."

"Wha…?"

"I gave you the wrong one." He dug under the futon, located the other, nearly identical box, and stopped just short of throwing the damn thing at her. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to relax. Relax. Deep breaths, no snarling or shouting or treating her like this was her fault. …Well, it _was_, but it wasn't, not really, nothing to justify yelling at her.

"Then what is this?" Kagome lifted the strip of black velvet from her box, fingering the dark grey pearl that dangled from the middle. On each end was a tiny catch. "Inuyasha, this is…"

"One of those choking things you were talking about." He wanted to melt into the floor. Why had he asked Shimoko to get it? Kagome was just staring at the thing, winding it through her slender fingers, and each second she didn't say anything made him feel more like being somewhere else. He'd vaguely meant to give it to her later, maybe with a note so he wouldn't have to embarrass himself, and instead...ugh.

Finally she turned her face up to him. Her mouth opened, closed and lips pressed into a thin line. "Unless you've developed some kind of fetish, I'm guessing this is for me." She'd said she wanted one. He'd listened.

Inuyasha nodded mutely, unprepared for the turn of her back and upsweep of her hair into one hand, exposing her neck and the beginning of shoulders. "Hold my hair so I can try it on."

He dearly would've liked to refuse, but his limbs moved of their own accord, directing him to sit behind her and gently take the dark, soft mass away from her.Whatever the reason for the suppressing herbs' opposite effect on her body, it was making it very difficult to keep himself still as she took up the black band, set it low against her throat, and brought the ends around the back.

For a moment, he was sure the thing would be too tight, wincing as she carefully tried to fasten it, willing her to stop squeezing the delicate flesh…her neck had to be in pain under so much pressure, he wanted to make her put the thing down instead of…but, no, the ends caught and the clasps were fastened, smoothed under her fingers, and Kagome twisted around to look at him, head held back proudly to display it. "There." It was almost a challenge, he thought distantly. "How's it look? Hideous?"

It was beautiful, the pearl resting demurely in the tiny hollow of her throat as if it'd been measured and created just to do so, black velvet accentuating and restraining flawless white so casually that its very modesty drew the eye like flaming red.

It was beautiful, a pretty complement to a well-shaped neck, and he hated it.

"You're still holding my hair." Kagome's mouth was dry.

"Take that thing off." His arm circled her waist, hand resting on her hip so carelessly that her flesh burned. Breath tinged the back of her neck with warmth, curiously dead where the velvet kept him from her.

"I want to at least see it after all that trouble." Kagome had no idea how she was still able to speak. She was so lightheaded that her lean back into him wasn't entirely voluntary. _Did someone put something in the apples?_

"You can see the damn thing later." He pressed her side gently without knowing it, and he started when she grasped his hand, bringing it into the light to examine it, turning it over in her pale fingers. He shuddered at the contrast, his dark, knife-tipped hand a travesty against hers, and shuddered at the touches between his fingers, over his palm, creeping under his skin till he was shaking all over, as if the muggy air was unbearably cold.

For once, Kagome knew what she was doing, and, impossibly, all she could do was lean back harder, letting his trembling weight fall against her as she kneaded his palm. The hand in her hair drifted down to her front and fell into her lap.

"Kagome." Her name hung in the air, and she released him, spinning away and to her feet so fast that she almost stumbled.

"What was the other thing, the one Shimoko got for me?" Kagome's knees weren't quite steady, but her voice mimicked it admirably. _Too close. The next time I see Miroku, I'm gonna..._

"You said you wanted one." Inuyasha's eyes were still closed, and he spoke as if he was half asleep. She wasn't the only one feeling it, then... "Why did you want a collar?"

"Why did you get it for me?"

"You wanted it. I didn't know what it was." His eyes almost opened. "You need to put the bracelets on."

Kagomewas nearly convinced now that someone had slipped something into the apples and he was babbling, till Inuyasha made himself grab the box, showed her the jewelry and explained the purpose. But even as her scent disappeared, the graceful metal decorations bothered him, and his strange, resentful languor lingered.

"They're pretty." Kagome extended her arms and legs, watching the things slide off her wrists and catch on her ankles, glittering in the braziers' light. Her loose yukata was nice, he thought, it didn't mock him like her dress had. The collar and bindings were bad enough.

His feet took control again, making his legs carry him over to her, but his arms didn't quite share their resolve, raising halfway to her shoulders, then falling limp, twitching toward her wrists with no real purpose. Why couldn't he shake her off with her scent gone? What would happen if he lost his head again? Did she love him? Was it his imagination, the herbs, the choker? How much had Kikyou heard? Had she seen them? Did it matter?

"Inuyasha?" Kagome looked up, looked into him, and he shook his head, brushing past her roughly. She turned with him. "Inuyasha!"

"Going," he mumbled, and it wasn't till he was outside and gulping fresh air that he realized that she still hadn't taken the black band off. _Shit. _Why that would make him so angry, he didn't know, but he was suddenly livid. _Shit! _All he wanted was a few answers, not someone constantly playing with his stupid fuzzy head.

Fuzzy. She'd called him that that first night, along with a few other things. Would she call him that again if he provoked her enough?

No, provoking her would just hurt her now that they knew each other. Of course she'd fight with him, but it wasn't the same. Over a month to go of the curse still, and things were most definitely not the same.

At least her scent wouldn't bother him now. That was a load off his mind so profound that it almost made him dizzy. He let relief flood through him as he came back inside, wandering past his room and through the corridors, not permitting himself any memories of when the third floor had been the most crowded, the most important in the castle, and his prison till he learned he could escape outside for a little while every night and some days. Now, he really didn't care where he was, so long as that annoying wench was there…

"Oh, aye,she was watching him again today."

The same cracked old voice that had stopped him this morning. It was in a room just ahead. He stopped.

"Yes, yes, Mother," a younger, barely middle-aged woman said patiently. "Go bring this down to the kitchens, would you please?"

Creaky footsteps shuffled out and in off in the opposite direction. Inuyasha wondered if she knew that she was going the wrong way.

"Was she talking about _her _again today?" another middle-aged female asked, sounding amused.

"I'm afraid so." The daughter sighed. "Mother's really getting a little simple."

Inuyasha nodded fervently to no one in particular. Of course. There was nothing.

"Indeed. Even if he's half-blood—"

Inuyasha tensed. His fists curled, and it was on the tip of his tongue to snarl at them that he was sick of hearing it, and besides, she didn't care. She never—

"—he's just a rooster, after all."

Blink.

_…Rooster?_

A dry chuckle. "Yes, she does tend to project stories onto strange things, but reenacting our predicament with the chickens is a bit much."

_Chickens?_

"Next thing you know, she'll be calling that odd-colored, ill-mannered bird Inuyasha, and we'll be in real trouble."

_Ill…mannered…_

"She does have a point in that his mother was the best layer we've ever had, never mind the different breeds, but talking herself into a great love story…" They shared a laugh. "If we have fewer eggs from her out of one male or the other, it won't be the end of the world."

"Tell that to your mother."

"Oh, my, no. _Then _she might start taking an interest in dung beetles instead."

* * *

A/N: There. Had to split it out of what was a 35-page chapter in Word; bf is leaving day after tomorrow, so I just might have the rest of it up very, very soon. Sorry again for the long interval. 

...WOW. The site continues to mash words together against my will. Siiiigh... Well, till next time, peace out.


	33. The Plot Thickens A Bit

Disclaimer: If you still have some idea that I own Inuyasha in any form except for various pieces of individual merchandise, you're silly. And wrong.

A/N: Yeesh. Life will not leave me alone. Very, very tentatively, I'd say this puppy won't go past 42 or 43 chapters…though certain female siblings of mine are betting it'll hit 50 simply because I ramble so much. But we're getting there, plot and everything, I promise…

By the by, one is gratified that so many people knew that the musical was "Wicked," but only Albino Black Sheep knew that the manga was Fushigi Yuugi…most perplexing. Perhaps the description was just more general than I thought…ah, well. On with the show.

Beast 

**Chapter 33**

Kikyou sensed the girl getting up just after dawn, and from her vantage point within the Tree, she could also satisfy herself that Kagome was still in her futon and hadn't moved since she fell asleep before Inuyasha returned the previous night. The former priestess had witnessed the betting before the duel as well as its aftermath, and promised herself a visit with the glib monk should he try to connive any more nights away from his usual room after this; though it was good to know that Inuyasha was behaving himself even with her reincarnation sleeping right at hand – and vice versa – it simply wasn't proper, and Inuyasha's leniency in permitting it to go on for so long was annoying, to say the least.

Her other feelings on the matter, she didn't care to examine any further for now, especially as the Tree's aura flickered and a sense of intrusion diverted her irritation. Kikyou narrowed her eyes out of habit, though her vision always remained the same now that she lacked flesh, whether her 'eyelids' were open or not.

Yes, there it was again, a sharp twinge on her awareness—gone just as suddenly. This wasn't the first time it had happened, but it had never been so distinct. Someone _was_ tapping into the Jewel's power, and growing bolder. Now, if she could just confirm a few other suspicions…

A cursory check of the area with the Tree's help eliminated the possibility of a demon accessing the Jewel's power, either by direct contact or from a distance; there was no trace of energy in the vicinity to suggest a demonic presence, and no demon in existence could cover its tracks so neatly as to escape _her_ notice once it had been there.

…Or could it? Without a body, the residue of her physical senses could detect a shadow moving away from the dusk-grey clearing as she wafted away from the trunk. But Kikyou couldn't be sure if she had imagined the barest hint of a familiar taint as someone or something had physically touched the Tree. It hadn't been a demon, no…but what human here could do anything with the Jewel except perhaps the girl? She hadn't been anywhere near the clearing—

Kikyou was nearly startled out of her thoughts again: an impression of unsettling power was all the warning she received before Kagome herself appeared directly in front of the Tree, landing on her rump with an undignified plop.

Bemused, the priestess' spirit watched as the girl stared blankly at the ground, apparently unaware of her audience, and slowly drew her arms around her knees. What was she doing out here at this hour? Inuyasha was still in his room.

Vestiges of some long-unfelt emotion – concern, perhaps – stirred faintly, and she added another question as the girl made no move to get up: what had happened to make her reincarnation come out here alone? Her posture indicated something highly unpleasant at the least…

Something to do with Inuyasha, no doubt. Kikyou knew better than anyone how careless the hanyou could be of others' feelings, particularly before he was fully awake. Still, Kagome had displayed unusual resilience to his rudeness, and whatever her personal feelings toward the girl, Kikyou had to admit that such a display of sensitivity wasn't like her.

A particularly unlikely but interesting notion dismissed any nascent inclination to offer Kagome some measure of comfort: did this have anything to do with the use of the Jewel?

Even in its present form, Kikyou's mind was capable of doing many things at once, so that she could notice the odd black cloth the girl clutched in one hand, wonder about the gold ringing both wrists, make note of both, and send herself up to Inuyasha's room between one thought and the next—and did, with no time wasted in trying to converse.

She was not surprised to see him standing at the window, hunched over and leaning against the wall, ruby eyes not taking in the cloud-muffled horizon or so much as flickering at the sound of his name spoken behind him. That in itself was slightly disturbing, more so than his sullen profile in the dim light, and Kikyou moved nearly right next to him for a better look.

"What do you want, Kago—" Inuyasha literally bit the word off. "Kikyou. This isn't the best…" He stopped again, eyes slowly widening till Kikyou fancied a living person would have been able to see her own reflection in them. His fangs clenched so that the nearer one drew his own blood. "Oh, shit. That's why she…" He struck the wall so hard that the centuries-old wood split like rice paper. _"Fuck!"_

"Slightly mixed up, Inuyasha?" Kikyou didn't know whether to be amused or disgusted as the pieces fell neatly into place. The hanyou must have called Kagome _her _name and only just now realized it. No wonder the girl had been upset. For the moment, Kikyou decided to be neither and make no assumptions about the circumstances under which the mistake had been made. "That would explain a great deal."

"What? Did you see Kagome?" Inuyasha made as if to grab her by the shoulder and caught himself just in time, raking the errant hand through his hair and getting it tangled instead. "It was an accident, dammit! I woke up, and she was standing there, and she just…"

"Looked like me, and so you used the appropriate name. A perfectly natural mistake, given your inability to properly wake up." Asinine though the slip was, it also meant she was in his thoughts as much as ever. Kikyou lifted one shoulder gracefully, allowing a frosty little smile to curve her lips. "She will realize as much soon enough. Give her an hour or two, and all will be well."

The smile faded as Inuyasha whirled away and began to pace. Kikyou didn't bother to conceal her frown. "Are you that afraid of her temper?" She would have laughed, but it seemed…inappropriate. "Surely another childish argument or two won't hurt you."

"That's not it!" The hanyou was genuinely agitated, and she did not like what she could read in the set of his ears and tone of voice. His frustration was plain, and unnerving. "Those damn things Shimoko gave her to wear, they mask her scent, and she put 'em on first thing, so I couldn't tell the difference that way like I usually would…" He was almost babbling, which was enough to raise her suspicions further. "I didn't mean to, Kikyou!"

"Inuyasha!" she said sharply. He stopped pacing, curling and uncurling his fists in still-palpable distress. Why wasn't he calming down? "I know you didn't mean to, and so does Kagome. Calm yourself before someone hears you."

Inuyasha buried his hands in his hair again, then extricated them and thrust them into his sleeves, gripping his elbows tightly. "Okay, okay, fine, you're right." He growled softly, almost involuntarily. "Come on, Kikyou, wouldn't you be pissed if it happened the other way around?"

He didn't realize his error till the priestess spoke, nearly thirty seconds later, very calmly, and coldly enough to shock him back into reality. "I don't believe circumstances would be _quite _the same if it were to happen the other way, Inuyasha."

"I know! I know, you're right. Sorry. Just…" Inuyasha growled more loudly. Why the hell had he gone and said that? "Sorry. Forget it."

A curt nod was his only answer. For once, he wasn't entirely sorry to glance up and find that she was gone.

Kikyou briefly wondered if she should have brought Inuyasha back with her to discuss what she had felt this morning as she returned to the Tree. She was disinclined to speak with him again for the time being, though, and he was already aware that there was a threat somewhere in his castle; if he wanted her help in finding it, he always could come to _her _and ask. It was unfortunate that his powers were limited to playing watchdog and being able to manipulate the castle's environment, or else he would have caught the thief himself already. At this point, that couldn't be helped.

Besides, Inuyasha would be useless in general till the _real_ problem facing the Tree could be taken care of. Best she deal with it now.

"Get up," she said brusquely, and Kagome shrieked, stumbling to her feet and nearly tripping over a root in her surprise. Kikyou waited with thinly veiled impatience for the girl to straighten, hard put to remain impassive as Kagome dropped the black cloth, hastily scooped it off the ground, brushed the dirt away, and finally stood uncomfortably.

Five seconds of staring at the mirror image was suddenly more than the dead priestess could take, and she looked away as if in boredom or disgust. She had been ready to say something about Inuyasha, but the emotion on the girl's—on _her _face was too raw. Had she ever looked like that when she was still alive…?

Kikyou would not permit herself a frown, which was surprisingly difficult given her lack of muscles. Nothing would be accomplished by allowing herself to wallow in melancholy now. The most inane question at hand would be safest, for both of them. "What are you holding, girl?"

Kagome flinched, almost dropping it again. "It's…it's a kind of necklace. I got it last night. See?" She brought it up to her neck, fumbled at the back, and let her hands drop, leaving a constrictive black band around her throat. Kikyou noted absently that the pearl, besides its size, perfection and likely value, was nearly the color of Inuyasha's niece's hair.

"I see." Thus reminded, Kikyou also suddenly saw that only Shimoko would have been able to procure such a thing, and that the demoness had given Inuyasha _two _boxes yesterday. Kikyou had come out just in time to overhear the explanation of the gold and silver loops, and now the mystery of the item Inuyasha had requested a few days before was solved. If Kagome had gotten the necklace last night as well, when she was with Inuyasha… "Was that also from the demon woman, or is Inuyasha giving you gifts?"

Rumbling overhead forestalled Kagome's answer, and a light patter of rain gave her ample excuse to move around the Tree. "Any chance of this thing getting hit by lightning?"

"This _thing _will be fine," Kikyou replied, apparently calm as ever despite the slight emphasis.

Kagome flushed darker. "Okay, just checking." Without minding her long yukata, she suddenly leaped for a low branch, scrambled a bit up the rough bark, caught it, and slowly hauled herself up, clambering higher and crawling back against the trunk. _Guess Inuyasha's realized what he did by now… _"There we go," she said aloud, arranging the fabric around her legs more modestly as Kikyou appeared to 'sit' on the branch next to hers. Aside from a few scrapes on knees and feet, she hadn't suffered any visible damage. That was a relief: she'd half expected to fall or otherwise make an ass of herself in front of the priestess. It was just that kind of day.

"You seem accustomed to this," the ghost remarked evenly.

"Mmm." They exchanged polite little nods. Again, Kagome wondered just what she was actually feeling, and how much…and if she really wanted to know. "Yeah, Souta – my little brother – used to climb trees all the time, and I'd have to go after him to get him down. He still does once in a while." Kagome tapped her chin as something occurred to her. "Actually, now that I think about it, this one was his favorite. Poor kid must be bored stiff without it."

"That's impossible," Kikyou said immediately, and through her surprise, Kagome was ashamed to feel a little smug at the unexpected reaction.

"Why? It's true.…Oh, right, the barriers." Kagome swung her bare calves idly, one to each side. The air was warm without being muggy quite yet, though the earthy-wet smell was beginning to wear on her nerves. "I think Inuyasha once told me the ward near the shrine where we live fluctuates sometimes. I know Souta's spent a lot of time here, and he's as human as they come. I've been here, too, even touched the trunk once when we first moved in…" She shrugged. "Weird. Maybe the shrine has some kind of power that messes with the curse or something."

"It does not." Kikyou looked out at the forest, which wasn't growing much lighter thanks to the clouds. "The human warding should have been completely intact, and remained thus, even when the curse was not fully active. And _you _were not nearly powerful enough to have brought it about yourself."

The rain became a needle-like downpour. Kagome pressed herself back against the bark, though the branches above her head formed a waterproof canopy several feet out from the trunk. "Well, yeah, and Dad got into the castle without any trouble. Even Inuyasha doesn't know how. Do you?" _And are you going to tell me if you do?_

"If you have sufficient power to travel distances at will, and if you've raised that many questions on your own, I'll trust you with three more." Kikyou glanced at her for the first time.

_That's a no. _Despite herself, Kagome sat up straighter as Kikyou continued. "The first is no more than a hunch of mine, but I have known Inuyasha long enough to be sure of what he may do as the curse draws to a close. I have measures of my own to consider as well. I wouldn't trouble myself with the necessity of having to save the other inhabitants' lives by agreeing to marriage if I were you."

Kagome opened her mouth. Kikyou kept speaking, forcing her to close it irritably. "Second, I don't know what kind of records have been maintained in this era, or for how long, but you may wish to investigate family ties you might have to this area. I'll say no more on that. Third, you may inform Inuyasha that your hidden enemy in the castle was active again this morning, not for the second or third time."

"Active? What do you mean? Was it Naraku?" Kagome nearly fell off in a futile lunge as Kikyou tilted her head and evaporated. "HEY! Come on, Kikyou, that's not fair! Is he using the Jewel? He can do that if he's controlling the curse, can't he? Why doesn't he just kill everyone instead of screwing around like this?! And what's Inuyasha going to do? Just _tell _me!" The pent-up stress she'd been trying to ignore came loose in a torrent of pure frustration, and she had to resist the urge to kick the bark with her heels like a little girl throwing a temper tantrum. "Tell me _something_! There's still a month to go, and I'm gonna go nuts in another week at this rate!"

"If you would calm down and stop acting like Inuyasha, you would be able to accomplish more than I possibly could in my current condition" was the cool reply, somewhere above her head. "Has Inuyasha done anything to you? Your petulance is usually better controlled than this."

"He…" Kagome swallowed, then swallowed again, but it didn't help the lump in her throat. "He just rubbed something in my face I've known for a while, and he didn't even mean to." She crossed her arms. "And that's all I'm saying." _There. See how it feels._

"Does it bother you so much that his thoughts remain devoted to me?"

Kagome stiffened. _How…?_

Kikyou reappeared. There was no hint of smugness or gloating in her features, but they weren't quite blank, either. "I visited him earlier, and I don't have to tell you—" She flicked a glance at the wind-tossed rain. "—that he hardly enjoyed his mistake."

"Yeah, I know…" Kagome developed great interest in examining her lap, the leaves surrounding them, the weather, anything but the unmoving shade at the end of her branch. "It's just…"

She hesitated. It would probably _not _be a good idea to whine about unrequited love to Kikyou. Not only might she use it against her somehow – if she didn't already know – but Kagome was painfully and ironically aware that the priestess would give a great deal to be in _her _place, alive and bound to Inuyasha, as it were. "It's just kind of embarrassing, being with him all the time and knowing he'd rather be with you." No reply. "Not to complain or anything, but…it's really frustrating." She exhaled shortly. "I'm sorry, I know—"

"Quiet," Kikyou said abruptly. Before Kagome could work up more than the beginnings of indignation, a faint prickle at the back of her neck silenced her, just as Kikyou drifted to the ground and a familiar voice asked if she'd seen Kagome here today.

_He came out looking for me? _Kagome very carefully folded her yukata and scooted sidesaddle along the branch, peering through the leaves at a blob of red and white on the ground. A slow rotation of both ankles and wrists reconfirmed that she still had the bangles on: no scent for him to track. _Hmmm… _Her shoulder chose that moment to remind her that the bruise wasn't entirely gone, nor happy with its recent abuse, and she obediently remained seated as Kikyou made a noncommittal reply.

"Which way did she go, then?" Inuyasha demanded. Thunder rolled in the distance, and Kagome absently wondered how far the mood-controlled weather extended.

"Nowhere beyond your reach. You may prefer to wait for her at the castle."

Kagome drummed her nails on the bark lightly. Was Kikyou being helpful, or did she just want to keep Inuyasha off balance? If she knew about the business with the names, she couldn't be much happier with him than Kagome was at the moment…

Inuyasha growled, shaking water from his ears. Kagome felt a stab of guilt. _He hates being out when it's raining, and he still came to look for me, huh? _Maybe she should come down now. It was selfish to keep him standing around out here when he was just worried about her and probably remorseful to boot.

Her mind heartily agreed. Her body didn't argue, but didn't move, either, though she wasn't sure whether to blame laziness, apprehension or sheer curiosity.

"Oh, yes, Inuyasha—"

She didn't look up, but Kagome had a feeling that Kikyou knew she was listening as closely as Inuyasha was.

"Couldn't you have chosen a more tasteful gift for the girl than a collar?"

Kagome sucked in her cheeks violently to keep from jumping in and making the situation worse. _Dammit, Kikyou, he doesn't need anything else to beat himself up for right now!_

"I didn't know what it was!" Inuyasha snapped. "She was talking about getting crap on her birthday, and she missed it with her family this year 'cause of us, so I wanted to make up for it." There was a brief pause. "Shit, it was the least I could do after I got her into this."

"Her father 'got her into this,' Inuyasha, not you."

"You know what I meant." Inuyasha moved closer to the trunk, forcing Kagome to scoot back. She doubted he'd be able to see her even if he looked straight up, but one never knew. "If I could take the damn thing back, I would."

"She took it out here with her, and she has it on now. Best of luck in getting her to remove it."

"So you did see her?" Neither missed the impatience in his tone, bordering on eagerness. Kagome's heart lifted, then sank into her stomach at the long silence that followed. The rain slackened, but a long rumble of thunder belied Inuyasha's loud snort. "C'mon. I just don't want her sulking and everyone giving me crap about it. That's all."

Kikyou didn't answer. Kagome could almost see Inuyasha's ears swiveling defensively, and the mental image made her feel even worse.

"Look, just tell me which way she went. The kugutsu's still out somewhere, too. She shoulda known better than to run off by herself." There was a distinct edge to his careless tone.

"_You_ should have known better than to permit her to be in your room in the first place. You could have made a much worse mistake than an idiotic slip of the tongue."

That did it. "I'm right here, Inuyasha," Kagome called down, and squirmed around to shake the huge limb as much as possible under her weight. "Yoo-hoo, up here."

"You…" Inuyasha spat a long line of undulating, mostly incomprehensible curses under his breath as his head snapped up and rain found its way into his ears almost freely. "What the hell are you doing up there?!"

"Staying dry. What are you doing down there?" she answered tartly, giving him a chance to recover.

"Looking for you! Now get your ass down here!" If he was relieved to find her unharmed, none of it was apparent in his snarl.

"M'kay." Pulse hammering, Kagome made sure her yukata was as securely closed as possible, then eased down the branches, hesitated at the lowest, and squeaked as Inuyasha hopped up next to her, took her by the waist and set her down in the space of two very rapid heartbeats.

The first thing he did upon releasing her was to hold out one hand. "Gimme the bracelets. Now."

Kagome blinked at him. Kikyou drifted a little closer.

"I'm serious, Kagome. If you're gonna be out of my sight, I have to be able to find you without just lookin' around at random. The kugutsu doesn't give a damn whether it can smell you or not, but I do." He motioned impatiently. "And the collar, too. Anything with eyes could pick you out at a distance with that thing on."

"Bracelets, sure. Choker, nuh-uh," Kagome said firmly, praying he wouldn't press the issue in front of Kikyou, and that Kikyou wouldn't keep after him with her standing right there. Not that her presence had dissuaded her before, of course, but she could always hope that propriety would win out now that she was in the open.

"Stubborn wench." Inuyasha's nose twitched as the second gold band came off. He took his time stowing them in his sleeves, collecting his thoughts. _Dammit, I forgot about the ankle things. _Her scent was distracting enough without being amplified, and he had to fight the sudden and very stupid urge to poke his nose into her neck like some kind of addict; the tang of fear helped dissuade him, though, even faster than a glance at Kikyou could. _The hell is she scared of? …Me? _He pawed at his ears, hoping the women would mistake their involuntary cringe into his hair for aversion to the rain. "Why the fuck didn't you come down sooner?"

"Why d'you think?" Kagome softened her tone. "I just wanted to be alone for a little while, Inuyasha, and I thought this place would be safer than the treehouse."

"Surely you didn't think I would permit anything to happen to her, Inuyasha?" Kikyou moved further out from the Tree, so that they could see the rain slanting straight through her. Kagome tried to repress her shudder. "Your lack of consideration is—"

"Let's go," Kagome cut in, tugging at Inuyasha's sleeve lightly. She bowed shortly to Kikyou before the priestess could speak again. "Thanks for the company, and for watching out for me, but I think Shimoko's back already. We'd better go see what's up."

"You go ahead, girl, and Inuyasha will be along shortly. I have something to discuss with him alone." Kikyou glided back to the Tree, her form shimmering into solidity from its partial translucence. "She's in no danger in this weather, Inuyasha. The magic that binds kugutsu together has a tendency to fail when exposed to water."

Inuyasha grunted softly in surprise. "Really?" Kagome's scent spiked softly, more fear and a little anger thrown into the damp air. He scowled at her in confusion, and promptly kicked himself as she drew back, hurt adding itself to the mix. _Shit. Now what? _"Uh…" He couldn't just tell her to get lost, especially not when he had yet to make up for his other gaffe. But he could hardly talk to Kikyou with Kagome standing right there, either… "Uh…you mind waiting for a minute?"

There was no right answer, really, but that didn't make him feel any better as Kagome flushed and Kikyou said, politely but very firmly, "We don't need any further intervention, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha shook his head lamely. "Not here. I meant—"

"Exactly," Kagome chirped, offering them a brilliantly fake smile. Her scent made Inuyasha's head and chest hurt. "I think I feel Kouga back, too. I'll just keep him busy for you for a while. Please, don't mind me. You'll know where to find me. Have fun." She jerked a bow, turned on her heel and disappeared into the trees.

"Oi!" Inuyasha stepped forward, unaware that he was standing in the rain. "OI!"

No answer.

Kagome had the presence of mind to remove the silver anklets just after she willed herself just inside the castle. After all, if Inuyasha could smell what she was feeling, no doubt the other demons would be able to as well. _At least Kikyou doesn't have a body. I know they're not…_

She wouldn't let herself finish that one. But something Upstairs must have taken pity on her before she sunk into total melancholy, because as Kagome was trying to wipe her bare feet at the entrance area, a casual glance to her left lifted the pall from her heart almost entirely. "How cute!" She dropped to her knees on the edge of the entrance area, mindful of her muddy soles. "Could you bring them over here?"

Three of her new friends from yesterday's meeting in the huts obediently scooped four wobble-legged kittens off the floor and rushed to deposit them on her lap. Kagome tactfully lifted all but the smallest off, stroking the calico's tiny head with one finger as the kitten squeaked her uncertainty at the new situation. "How old are they?"

"Born a little bit after we all woke up, Kagome-sama," the oldest girl said proudly, dropping to her knees as well so as not to speak down to her better. Her cousins followed suit, each plunking a tabby onto her legs. "Just weaned a few days ago."

Kagome's heart melted as her calico took a tremulous step, looking up at her siblings and mewing faintly. "They're so _cute_!" How could anyone with a soul stay in a bad mood when there were kittens on her lap? Kagome gently picked up the unclaimed kitten, a black tortoiseshell with a white bib and paws, depositing it next to its sister on her legs. The calico promptly staggered into the tortoiseshell and tried to climb over it, eliciting a series of cross objections as Kagome separated them. "Whose cat is their mama?"

"Our aunt's," another girl said, giggling as the orange tabby tried to scale the front of her kimono. "Rats have gotten back into the kitchen, so Tori can't spend time with her babies anymore."

"_Bird"? Now _there's _an interesting cat name. _"I see. Well, you guys will just have to take over." She gave in to the urge to pick up the calico, holding it at eye level. Small as her hands were, the kitten almost fit in her palm. Tiny marble-green eyes widened at her soft clicking noise, and Kagome cuddled her against her shoulder, not caring if the ragged fur contained fleas or other icky stuff. "Just keep them away from Buyo, okay?"

"There you are, Auntie."

With utmost regret, Kagome set the kittens down and stood to straighten her yukata as Shimoko approached, white kimono rustling, one eyebrow raised. "How very picturesque. But whyever haven't you changed yet? It's well past dawn."

"It's a long story," Kagome hedged, willing the girls to come back as they collected the kittens, bowed as deeply as they could around the protesting bundles of fur and baby claws, and scurried off. "What brings you here?"

"Another gift for you, delivered at Kouga's behest." Shimoko eyed the silver bands Kagome had dropped next to her feet, then the choker at her throat. "It looks good. If I may say so, your scent suggests oji-chan didn't quite approve. What did he say this time?"

"Kagome!" Kouga's strident greeting spared her from having to answer. He stopped just short of where Shimoko had discreetly positioned herself between them, nodding and smiling genially. "It's been too long." Both women started as he switched to fairly decent English. "How have you been doing?"

"Impressive. You've actually used the language CDs Ginta gave you," Shimoko remarked, largely for Kagome's benefit. "You need to practice your v sounds more, though that wasn't at all bad for a beginner."

"You flatter me." Kouga bowed deeply. For once, Kagome couldn't read his tone. That in itself was saying something—what, she didn't know. _At least he hasn't grabbed my hands yet…_

"You'll excuse us long enough for Auntie to change, of course," the demoness said conversationally, though the bracelets had somehow reappeared in her hand and she was already urging Kagome around Kouga and towards her room as she spoke. "It'll be just a minute."

Unfortunately, Kouga's nose was every bit as good as Shimoko's, and the scents of distress were just as apparent to him, even in passing. Shimoko gave Kagome a gentle push to keep going and paused to speak over his indignant concern: "By the way, Kouga-sama, I've heard Ayame-san has made plans to return to the country. Would it be indelicate to ask whether you'd prefer I let her know about the curse or not? We do have a business relationship, after all—"

Kouga's panic wasn't covered fast enough, and Kagome would have given quite a bit to hear his reply. Sango chose that moment to round the corner, though. "Kagome-chan! What are you doing out here? Come and see this!"

_What is it with today and interruptions? _Kagome wondered as Sango seized her hand with uncharacteristic impatience and pulled her away from the scene as she tried to hear what Kouga was stammering. _I guess anything that distracts me is good at this point, though…_

As if to drive the point home, no less than Miroku, Kohaku, Shippou, breakfast, _and_ a massive cardboard box awaited her in her room. The second shoji had been removed to expand the chamber almost half again, and the women were left alone long enough for Kagome to change as Sango explained. "Shimoko-sama said it's a gift from Kouga and his pack members, and it's supposed to go to the…D-D-R game." The pronunciation was atrocious, but close enough, and Kagome let it slide, amused by her friend's obvious curiosity. If she hadn't been fully recovered yesterday, she definitely was now. "We've been trying to figure out exactly what it does, but Shimoko doesn't know, Kouga forgot what Hakkaku said it was, we couldn't find you or Inuyasha, and Inuyasha's done something to the room so that it seals itself whenever Kouga tries to get in…"

Kagome finished buttoning a white sweater, smoothed her jeans, and tried to puzzle out what the box was. Then, inspired, she circled around and looked at it from a different angle. "Oh…oh, COOL!"

"Kagome-sama?!" Miroku burst into the room, staff ready. "What is it?"

"It's metal!" They didn't get much sense out of her till Shimoko had joined them and Kagome could be persuaded to sit down and explain in between bites of breakfast. "They're DDR mats, like that one—" She indicated the folded rubber mat atop the TV, then resumed feeding Shippou. "Except they're made of metal, and joined together. These are reallyexpensive, or at least they were back when DDR was really popular."

"Does the magic work the same in metal as in the softer material?" Miroku asked curiously, eyeing the box and then the mat.

"Yep. The game itself isn't changed by what you use to control it, but it's a lot easier to do on metal." Kagome petted the kitsune's hair thoughtfully. "I hope they fit in here."

"The noise should be another consideration," Shimoko pointed out. "I've heard these things at arcade centers before. You will keep the sound down, won't you?"

Kagome nodded. "Especially with Inuyasha around."

"Where is Inuyasha-sama?" Kohaku wanted to know, and Kagome cringed inwardly as the others expressed similar curiosity.

"That's right, he still hasn't really seen the game…" Sango caught the shadow across Kagome's features. She frowned, then forced a smile. "You know, Kagome-chan, if the metal is sturdy enough, perhaps we should get Inuyasha to try it."

"You think so?" Kagome couldn't restrain a snort at the idea of Inuyasha hopping around on the mat. "There's no way we could get him on there."

Amused silence reigned briefly as everyone turned attention to food. Shimoko refused the younger slayer's portion with a slight shake of the head, though Kohaku's discomfort at eating in her presence was evident. Sometimes Kagome thought he was a bit too well-mannered and gentle for this place; the strain of his sister's poisoning and of an enemy lurking somewhere was probably affecting him more than he was willing to show. _I'll ask Sango and Shippou to keep an eye on him. He's losing too much weight._

"That…ah…decoration is very attractive, Kagome-sama," Miroku said delicately as the dishes were cleared and stacked. "Am I mistaken to assume we've seen it before somewhere?"

Kagome's throat went dry. "In that magazine we were looking through before, yeah." She didn't know for sure if demons could smell tension, but the way everyone was looking askance at her, it probably wasn't necessary: her face had to look as if she'd smelled sour milk. A forced smile didn't convince them, either. "Inuyasha didn't really like it."

"That would be my fault," Shimoko said unexpectedly. "I'll be more careful the next time I buy jewelry for anyone here, Auntie." She inclined her head. Kagome nodded gratefully, and Sango held her questions at the unspoken exchange, knowing Kagome would tell her later anyway.

"I like it," Shippou volunteered, and Kagome hugged him fiercely.

It was the work of a few minutes – made much easier by Shimoko's insistence upon helping Miroku move the slabs of metal, and by her ability to easily lift them above her head with one hand – to hook up the new platform and turn on the TV and PlayStation. Wide as the metal surface was, the television's screen was big enough to permit the player on the left a full view at nearly any angle.

Within another minute, Kagome was already demonstrating this and other principles associated with the new apparatus, alternately expressing relief at the solidity underfoot and yelping as her heel connected with the heavy studs at each arrow's corner.

"Are you sure you prefer those, Kagome-chan?" Sango asked doubtfully at the song's end. The thudding each step made sounded painful enough without considering potential missteps.

"Uh huh. Hey…" Kagome stepped off the platform, edged around and gestured grandly at the TV. "You guys want to try it together?"

"Absolutely not, thank you," Sango said flatly.

"We'd love to, Kagome-sama," Miroku said at the same time.

They looked at each other.

"No, houshi-sama."

Miroku put on his most winsome smile. "But, Sango dearest—"

Sango dug out her most unrelenting scowl. "I've been unwell the past few days, remember?"

He eyed her appreciatively, stepping a little nearer as if to feel her forehead in concern. "You're looking _more _than well enough now."

Shimoko raised an eyebrow as Sango just barely caught a grab at her backside. "Keep your hands to yourself! Honestly, have you _no _shame?!"

"For you, most beauteous and gifted one, I might see fit to locate some…if you would just—"

"No!"

"But…"

"Absolutely not, houshi-sama."

"What if—"

"Under _no _circumstances am I going to get on that thing and make a fool of myself. Is that clear?"

Miroku looked injured. "I'm surprised at you, Sango. Are you slighting Kagome-sama?"

"Yeah, Sango-chan," Kagome chimed in on the spur of the moment. The slayer blinked, and Miroku kept his expression carefully blank as Kagome went on, urged by some inner demon: "I mean, I know I'm not that good at it, but that doesn't mean you have to say I look stupid on it, does it?" She pulled a face, and only Kohaku didn't have to suppress a laugh at Sango's guilty head shake. "No, no, I see how it is. If you want, I can just have Kouga-kun take it back."

Neither she nor Miroku were tactless enough to say anything further, especially when Sango was busy stepping on the arrows a moment later and growing increasingly flustered. "This is harder than it looks," she admitted as Miroku completed the song with relative ease, leaving him with a decent score and her at rock-bottom. "And I thought Hiraikoutsu required good coordination, not to mention agility."

"Abilities mean nothing without experience, as you well know," Miroku replied, and they exchanged smiles as Kagome stepped up to help them select another song.

"They're quite the pair," Shimoko remarked to Kagome over the sounds of irregular pounding and painfully chipper English lyrics. Kohaku and Shippou were too busy watching the screen to pay any attention elsewhere. "Pity he's a monk."

"That doesn't really matter in his case," Kagome said honestly, shrugging at Shimoko's curious head tilt. "He usually doesn't pay attention to the rules anyway, and…well, you know about his hand, right?" The woman nodded sadly. "With that and the fact that he's, well, Miroku, no one really minds him acting the way he does. I know monks aren't even supposed to _think _about women, much less get married, but…"

"I see. I'd hardly begrudge him, either." Shimoko sighed. "Speaking of grudges, where is—"

"Hey," Kagome said accusingly over her shoulder, and Shimoko's head whipped around. Inuyasha was standing just inside the shoji, a gold loop clutched in each hand. He recoiled as if she'd thrown something at him, but Kagome merely gestured at him to come in. "You're missing the show. What, did you grow some fashion sense all of a sudden?"

"Indeed. I didn't even smell you back there," Shimoko said accusingly.

"What's going on?" Sango asked without taking her eyes from the screen, growling as her concentration slipped anyway, feet and vision falling out of sync. "Look at what you made me do, Inuyasha! …That is Inuyasha you're talking to, isn't it?"

"Who else would come in just to mess you up?" Kagome rose and took the bracelets from his hand, half-smiling to indicate he needn't fear being verbally dismembered even if he wasn't quite forgiven yet. Inuyasha merely blinked. "Come on, it's your turn."

"Fuck no." Inuyasha watched the remnants of the song, squinting at the offensively bright blue and white background. "…That first letter is an…ech? And there's another one, plus an…ah-ee?"

"An H, yep, and an I." Kagome applauded playfully. "Very good. You almost said it right, too." English contains many sounds Japanese does not – and excludes several sounds that Japanese uses as a matter of course, particularly vowels paired with consonants – but Kagome had been pleasantly surprised to find that the substitutes she'd used as loose examples, like 'ai' or 'love,' had served as decent bases for the pronunciations she was trying to get both hanyou and demon to use correctly.

"Have you been teaching oji-chan English as well?" Shimoko smiled as Inuyasha sat down near them, completing a loose triangle. Miroku sighed near the front of the room and agreed to repeat the song at Sango's insistence that she'd get it right _this _time.

"No, just the alphabet. But Kouga doesn't know that yet, so they're about even." Kagome shrugged. "They both learn pretty fast." _Can't claim much credit when your students aren't even human._

Inuyasha's ears bobbed in unison, and they were saved from Kagome's impulsive touch only by a muffled sound from outside the room. "Go away," Inuyasha snarled at the shoji, which shuddered under the force of a blow from outside in response.

"Oh, let him in," Kagome said peevishly, as annoyed as she'd just been pleased a moment ago. If the rice paper was still intact after Kouga hit it, it meant Inuyasha had a hand in it still. "He's not gonna go away, and besides, he got that new metal thing for us to play on. The least you can do is let him come see it."

"Maybe later." Inuyasha shoved his hands into his sleeves.

Shimoko eyed them, correctly assessed Kagome's temper as approaching dangerous levels, and cleared her throat. "So, oji-chan, what would you say to some new clothes?"

He snorted. "What the hell would I do with more clothes? I have some already. Fire-rat fur doesn't wear out, and it repairs itself when I get into a fight. Normal stuff would just get screwed up."

Shimoko chuckled. "Ah, but what about clothes that you could wear whenever you're guaranteed _not _to be fighting?"

Instead of scoffing further, Inuyasha tensed, and Kagome started at the warning note in his voice. "What do you mean?"

If she had been paying attention, she would have found the game's warbling very ironic: "Lose your fear, 'cause there is no one here—"

"Well, you don't have to tell me when it is, of course," Shimoko said casually, frowning a little and misinterpreting his apprehension, "but surely you've been curious as to what it's like to wear human clothes _as _a human yourself, even just for one night a month."

In retrospect, Kagome was amazed that Inuyasha didn't even scream at his niece, much less attack her or do anything similarly unwise. He merely dug his claws into the tatami so deeply and swiftly that Kagome didn't dare ask what Shimoko meant. "I hate to break it to you, _dear_, but I don't give a shit about that, and if you try to say anything else about it, the curse'll shut us all up for however long it feels like. Thanks a hell of a lot for bringing it up."

"You didn't…" Shimoko's elegantly pale face went chalk-white. The air had grown heavy again, so much so that Kohaku and Shippou looked around at them, and Sango faltered again on the game towards the end of the song, cursing under her breath. For the first time, the demoness seemed at a loss for words. To complete Kagome's bewilderment, Shimoko edged back and bowed so deeply that her forehead rested against the floor. "Please forgive me, Inuyasha. I had no idea it was forbidden to speak of."

"Feh." Inuyasha rapped his claws on the tatami, reforming the furrows as he composed himself. "Forget about it." He took a huge breath and let it out in a rush. "So, where's that camera thing today? Gonna use it to screw anything else up, or do you not need the help?"

It was a testament to their discomfort that, like Inuyasha, neither woman really remembered what the camera had interrupted yesterday; he was merely being crabby. "I don't have it with me. But…" Shimoko sat up and dug into her sleeve, extracting a slim object and unfolding it. Inuyasha vaguely recognized the kind of thing Kagome's father had once tried to show him, and sure enough, several pictures came out. "This was when she was first born, and here she is in her first crib at home. Wasn't she adorable?"

Naturally, nearly every picture was of Tadako, and they wouldn't have seen any other if not for Inuyasha's idle curiosity in flipping through them all till he came upon a fresh face.

"Who's the dumbass?" Inuyasha wanted to know, pointing to a nervously smiling, fairly nondescript man sitting under a tree with Shimoko and the baby. "Some kind of servant?"

"That would be my husband," Shimoko didn't quite snap.

"Oh." Inuyasha almost sounded apologetic. Almost.

"Let me see that…" Kagome almost snatched the picture out of Inuyasha's clawed hand. She brought it so close to her face that her breath fogged the plastic cover, and her eyes grew wide. "Holy…"

"What, you go for skinny morons or somethin'?" Inuyasha drawled, though the purpose of the joke was slightly defeated by a prick of something akin to jealousy. It was probably just disgust. Yep, that was definitely it.

"I think…" Kagome looked up at Shimoko, too perturbed to hear Sango successfully argue for just one more time at the same song, which she had almost passed this time, over Miroku's growing exasperation. "I met him once. He and Mom knew each other. I remember, that scar under his eye scared me 'cause I was so little…. Does he have an Osaka accent?"

"He does." The demoness sat up straighter, eyes taking on a strange gleam. "Did your mother have any siblings…no, not siblings, but aunts, or uncles?"

"Aunts or uncles? No, her family was really small, and they're all…" Kagome snapped her fingers, scaring Shippou out of his half-sleep. "Wait! Yes, she did, one uncle. He died in some kind of accident way before I was born, before Mom even got married. I don't know anything else about him, though, whether he was married or not. She never talked about her family."

"What was your mother's maiden name?" Shimoko was leaning almost into Kagome now, forcing Inuyasha to lean back uncomfortably.

"It was…I think it was Saotome, definitely not your husband's last name. Dead end." Kagome sighed in disappointment.

But Shimoko was shaking her head. "Shiro took his mother's name when his father died. Apparently his father was something of a delinquent, even after he married, so his mother didn't want to risk being associated with him after his death." Kagome grimaced, and it deepened as Shimoko nodded thoughtfully. "You're positive you recognize the photo?"

"Very." Kagome thought about it very hard for a minute. "Yeah, I do. Could you bring him in somehow, the way you do with Tadako?"

"Nope." They blinked in perfect unison as the demoness raised her hands in a helpless gesture. "My powers are stretched to their limits bringing a very small and inconspicuous human in safely. There's no way I could get my Shiro past the wards without risking his life. It would hardly help if I were to bring his pieces inside for you to look at…" She shuddered. "No, I have a better idea."

Inuyasha was perfectly willing to watch, listen and wonder as Shimoko produced a small handkerchief and directed Kagome to spit in it, then folded it carefully. But when she pondered for a moment, found another hanky and asked Kagome to hold still so she could get a small blood sample, he stepped in. "You need to cut her—_why_?"

"DNA samples, oji-chan," Shimoko said blithely, taking Kagome's hand in hers and positioning it over the white material. "Modern science can compare tiny components of two people's saliva and blood to see if the individuals are related or not."

"Well, that's great. Don't cut her," Inuyasha snapped.

Shimoko popped her knuckles. "Do you have any idea of the ramifications of our theory being correct, oji-chan?"

"No, I don't, but if you can just use the spit for whatever weird ceremony you want to do, then leave her alone," he shot back. "And if you can't, then leave her alone."

Kagome was inclined to agree for once. She wasn't sure, but she did seem to recall old crime shows and science classes claiming that saliva was all they needed for those kinds of tests. Or were those the same shows that claimed you could tell what a person had for lunch by looking at his fingerprints? Those were fun to watch, but—

But Inuyasha snatching her bodily away from Shimoko's sharp nails was hard to argue with, and the demoness gave in with another series of crackling snaps from her hands and an eyebrow arch. "If you insist, oji-chan. I'll be back soon with the results, Auntie. Till then, try to behave, both of you." She was gone, though only to the hall, if Kouga's voice rising again and a faint alto reply were any indication.

"Maybe you should unseal the door now," Kagome said flippantly, trying to dislodge the butterflies in her stomach as Inuyasha showed no plans to put her down, scowling at the shoji as if Kouga would come bursting in or Shimoko might return to attack her. It wasn't as if he _should _be holding her like this after the way Kikyou had manipulated him into ditching her at the Tree less than an hour ago…

…Well, that was a little extreme, but it was basically true. The only thing that rankled more than the inability to tell him she forgave him for the name mix-up was the inability to tell him she was mad at him for something else that wasn't really his fault. But she _was_, dammit, and what was worse, she was too embarrassed to ask him what Kikyou might've said about the Tree or their lurking enemy.

_Therefore, I need to tell him to put me down. _Kagome snuggled against him a little as the sound of footsteps died away in the hall. _If I don't tell him why I'm mad, he'll get the wrong idea and get all guilty. …Which he will anyway. _

Her inward resolve did her little good otherwise, as it took Sango and Miroku turning back from the machine to ask her if she wanted a turn for Kagome to realize that Inuyasha still had an improperly decent grip on her, and the speed with which they separated did little to repair the damage done as measured in thoughtful looks and words unspoken.

In fact, words unspoken seemed to dominate the rest of that day at the castle. Kouga latched onto Kagome as soon as she left the room and paid her more persistent attention than either she or Inuyasha would have liked. She was much more pleasant to him in return than usual, though, and Inuyasha was alternately more irritated and more aggressively indifferent than ever.

The only way to escape both was either to stay in Kaede's shrine or in the bath, and Kagome found comfort in neither. The former provided them with odd, slightly disturbing news, which was then dissected in the latter.

"Why would anyone put stimulant in your herb dosage, Kagome-chan?" Sango asked for the fourth time, frowning distractedly as Shippou accidentally kicked up water. "And a safe amount, no more or less? If it wasn't an attempt to poison you…"

"I dunno. They might've gotten it into yesterday's, too. That would explain why I was so hyper." Kagome let her hand rest on the surface idly. "But why would anyone want me to get hyper? Were they hoping I would run into a wall or something?" Kaede prepared each dose of suppressant only an hour or two before it was to be taken, since the ingredients didn't keep well, and the would-be poisoner evidently didn't know about the bracelets. Yet.

"I don't know. Did she say anything at the Tree this morning that would make sense of it?"

Kagome sat up. "Sango-chan, that's the fifth time you've asked me that. Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"I think I played the game a bit too much, too soon." Sango abruptly stood, rocking uncertainly on her heels. "Let's get out now."

"Sure." Kagome helped her friend out of the water, distracting her after they got dressed by French braiding her own hair before clipping the choker into place and slipping the gold bracelets on. When Sango admired the effect, Kagome persuaded her to sit down long enough to remember how to braid someone else's hair that way, and the minutes of female bonding helped ease the stress of knowing that not only were things not right, but Sango was too out of it to help her figure anything out.

Kagome chuckled in self-deprecation as they went to the room, where Kohaku had already had dinner for all of them laid out as Kagome had "suggested." _Listen to me. "How dare Sango not be up to fixing all my problems for me?!"_

No, she was worried about her friend, too. There was just something odd about her. Nothing like Kohaku's weariness, or Inuyasha's defensive guilt. _She really shouldn't have pushed it. _The slayer wasn't in shape the way she had been when she was fighting demons on a daily basis, and after her illness, that much exercise had probably been a bad idea. _Oh, well. Live and learn. …The same way that Miroku's going to learn a lot about _pain _if he so much as breathes a word about rooms tonight._

Word had naturally filtered through the castle grapevine and into Miroku and then Inuyasha's ears about the suppressant, though the monk deflected Inuyasha's pointed inquiries about Kagome not taking anything from Kaede by admiring the women's matching hairstyles.

"I didn't notice the other things before, either." Shippou took one gold loop off Kagome's slender wrist and sniffed at it. He coughed, nearly jamming it back on before Inuyasha could warn him to put it back. "What the heck is that thing? It makes my nose burn!"

"It's designed to do something like that," Kagome said apologetically, mentally running back till she ran into the fact that she'd hid the silver anklets safely under the bed before they went out to see Kaede. She bounced the kit on her knee, smiling as his paws slipped on her gauzy blue skirt. "So, Shippou-chan, you want to try DDR sometime?"

Inuyasha tuned them out, uninterested in whether the brat was interested in some weird, loud game that involved hurting bystanders' ears and manipulating pictures by jumping around. His mind wouldn't stop slipping back to that morning, watching Kagome march away from the Tree. Just after she'd left, Kikyou had apologized for being so harsh with him—

"What if there was four of me? D'ya think it'd work then?" Shippou demanded, hopping on Kagome's lap and nearly sliding into her bowl.

"You can't be more than one Shippou at a time," Kagome declared with as much skepticism as she could, so that he could protest with equal vehemence. She actually figured he probably could pull off a trick like that, as kitsune were supposed to be able to. _Now that'd be something to get a picture of!_

She caught Inuyasha watching them and sobered. _How many people can one _real_ person be? _If she was feeling conflicted, God only knew what Inuyasha was thinking, with the names and the Tree and Shimoko and suppressant business all occupying him while he waited to die.

Wait. What had Kikyou said about him doing something, maybe? And not having to marry him?

Kagome wondered.

Inuyasha looked at his food and rearranged his rice grains listlessly.

He hadn't heard a damn thing Kikyou had said. Once he stopped wondering why she'd bothered apologizing when she was right, and why she'd yelled at him in front of Kagome but waited till she was gone to say that she shouldn't have lost her temper, all he'd thought about was what Kikyou would do if she knew that he hadn't even seen Kagome's face when he woke up that morning.

It was so complicated that he still had trouble sorting out what the problem was. At the most basic, he had called the woman standing by the window "Kikyou" because his nose had recognized a faint scent. It was several hours old, and tainted with the hot stink of the dead brazier in the corner, but the emotions that that clean, feminine smell evoked were unmistakable: peace, contentment, absolute comfort in being his impure and worthless self for once, simple and unconditional happiness—in short, soft, warm, fuzzy things he'd never deigned to feel before that scent imprinted itself on his brain.

Unfortunately, his memory dealt as heavily in logic and hard facts as it did in sensations, no matter how keenly they might be felt, and his mind knew who he loved just as well as his heart did. If the girl standing at his window with her back turned to his futon was the source of that scent, and that scent made him feel that way…

"…this rate, we'll be dead before then anyway."

Why shouldn't I have called her Kikyou? It should've been her scent screwing with my head like that, not Kagome's…but if she can't leave it anymore, it shouldn't have…aaaaugh! 

"Sango-chan!"

His right ear flicked. He ignored it.

"Well, it's true, Kagome-chan. Are you going to accept Inuyasha?"

His ear flicked again. He started to pay attention.

"Miroku-sama. _Why _did you let her have sake?"

"With all respect, Kagome-sama, I'm not her keeper. Besides, she's stronger than I am."

Uh oh. Inuyasha focused on the land of the living.

"There's no point in getting depressed about it now, Sango-chan," the object of his disquiet was saying to the slayer, who did indeed look as if she'd had a few cups too many. "You never know what might happen."

"Oh, really?" Sango reached for the bottle, which was mysteriously empty. Kagome wouldn't discover the puddle of sake under her bed until the next day. "Did _she _tell you something?" She hiccupped. "Why the hell we have to keep going around it? You already know everything, Kagome-chan."

"I don't know what she meant when she told me not to worry about saving everyone's lives by marrying Inuyasha," Kagome mumbled tightly, half to herself.

Half to oneself means the other half is very much _not _to oneself, though, and even Sango snapped to attention. "What was that?"

"It was something Kikyou said this morning." Kagome deliberately used the name, pausing to see if the curse would retaliate against her. Nothing. Not even that usual heaviness, which had at least made sure she knew it was there whenever she said the name before. _Huh. _"She told me…" Kagome glanced at Inuyasha. He was watching her like a hawk on one of those caffeine pills everyone took nightly for months before the high school exams. "Not much. Just that she thought Inuyasha would do something and…and no one in the castle would have to die."

"And that you wouldn't get stuck marrying me?" Inuyasha's right ear slid back, while his left made an odd but cute attempt to stay upright. Otherwise, Kagome had never been in a less amusing situation. "Did she say anything else?"

"Nope. Just that." The silence in the room had nothing to do with a censoring curse, Kagome was sure. She shoveled food into her mouth, determined to be normal, act normal, before Something happened.

Her brain betrayed her, launching Windows ThinkAboutIt XP before she could hit the power button on time. _Now, how _does_ the curse end? Easy. Either he gets married, which apparently doesn't have to happen, or he dies. So…_

The chopsticks dropped from her slack fingers, a glob of rice falling shortly thereafter. Cold squeezed her heart and trickled through her veins, icing her skin from the inside out.

_Oh, God._

"So."

Humans, demon and half-demon alike flinched at the single matter-of-fact syllable. Shippou's nose wrinkled, and he hopped off Kagome's lap for the safety of Sango's. Inuyasha steeled himself against the half-suppressed odor of pure sorrow and prayed to whoever was listening that his dead love had not provided this beautiful, intelligent, horribly nosy wench with enough clues to figure out what he'd hoped no one would know till after he was dead.

"Inuyasha. You wouldn't by any chance have another girl hidden around here that you plan to marry, would you?"

He was trapped. One glance, a half-frightened brush of scarlet on toneless brown, and he couldn't joke or lie to her. "No."

"And you have no plans to uproot the curse at the source or anything fancy like that."

Inuyasha jerked back. "_Fuck _no!"

His forceful response was the eighteen-wheeler that broke the camel's back. Kagome slammed her fists into the little table hard enough to drive splinters on one rough edge into her skin. "And _when _were you going to tell me this?!"

"Why the hell would I tell you about it?!" Inuyasha glared at her head-on now, letting fury swallow the weakness that had been gnawing at him all day. His anger only mounted at the tears sheeting her soft eyes. _Kikyou never got weepy on me, at least. _Distantly ashamed, but too caught up to help himself, he lowered his head to her level. "This whole mess is _my _problem, and I'm just trying to fix it without hunting innocent people down or handing you a fucking leash! Did you have a better idea?!"

"_Any_thing's better than ripping your own heart out because you've got a guilt complex!" If he thought that being on the verge of tears and the long peace since their last shouting match had pulled Kagome's teeth, he was about to learn otherwise. "If you want to make up for it…I don't know, ask Kikyou how or something! She's the one who knows everything!"

"Yeah, she damn well knows more than to argue with me when she's _wrong_!"

"She's _never _wrong! She's the one who fed me just enough info to figure out you'd rather gut yourself than just bloody ask her if there's any other way around it!"

"Guess what, bitch? There _is _no other way around it! And your kissing me and giving me cow eyes and trying to tell me it's gonna be just fine in the end _are not going to accomplish a single gods-damned thing except to make the rest of my life **fucking miserable**_!"

Ears rang. The dust settled. Servants clear through the third floor did not breathe.

In the room, Miroku, Sango, Shippou and Kohaku were frozen. They could have murdered each other with their chopsticks, and the two would not have noticed.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha. She let everything fall through her heart, pooling deep somewhere she'd thought drained, well below the surface, and tilted her head, letting her braid swing free. She was okay. She'd be fine for another twenty, perhaps thirty minutes. Where was Buyo? He would've loved to play with her hair right now. Cats made excellent distraction.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome. He'd done it again. He'd just wanted her to stop smelling the way his mother had when his father died. And now she had, and he should have told her she didn't make him miserable. He just didn't know how he felt, and _that _made him miserable. Knowing how badly he'd hurt her made him miserable. That much he knew. Maybe he should tell her? "Kagome?"

"Yes?" Light, meaningless. The lamps were on, but Kagome wasn't home.

"I…" _Doitdoitdoitdoit _"I didn't see you when I called you Kikyou this morning. I just smelled you. But you had the bracelets on, so it was old and I couldn't tell. You don't make me miserable. I like having you around."

Shit. He sounded like a three-year-old, and not a very bright one, either.

"You're a masochist."

Inuyasha's ears eased back up. An insult…maybe that was a good sign. "Huh?"

"You need to punish yourself for the curse. And for kissing me. And calling me Kikyou. Maybe other stuff. If you like having me around, it's because you like being told what's wrong with you. You think you deserve it."

The hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up. Her voice wasn't hers. It was…hollow. _Creepy. _"Kagome, snap out of it. Scream at me or cry or hit me or something. C'mon."

"Get out."

"Kagome, listen. If we miscalculate when the curse ends, I could end up killing _you_, and I don't want to do that. If I don't—"

"I'm not validating your feelings of assholedom just so you can go to bed and we can pretend this never happened." She scissored a glance at their friends. "Aren't you glad you got to see what our fights used to be like firsthand? We should sell tickets."

"Don't pull your head-games bullshit on me now! And don't pretend you're not upset. You're being creepy as hell."

"Tell you what, Inuyasha. Why don't you go to bed, cuddle with some I'm A Potential Murderer thoughts, and tell me all about it in the morning? I'm sure I'll be up for some more screeching by then."

Inuyasha ground his teeth. "You're not getting rid of me that easy, you—"

"You're the one who's trying to get rid of _me_. Emotionally, anyway." The wound opened a little wider as they stared at each other. "I'm being a bitch because you hurt me _really _badly and I want you to go away for a little while so I can sort through it with some dignity, but at least I have the decency to be honest about it. All _you _want is to die, and everyone else is a complication, never mind if someone else doesn't _want_ you to die."

Bile suddenly rose in her throat, and Kagome buried her head in her hands. "And you feel like you _have _to, and in your world, you _do_, and no amount of whining on my part is going to change that."

She forced her head up. "Is it?" It wasn't a question.

Inuyasha had no answer. Kagome looked at him again, not in contempt, or anger, or hatred, or pity, or amusement at having seen right through him. She rose gracefully, and he watched the pearl at her throat jiggle on its minute gold ring, embedded in black velvet. Then she had his elbow, urging him to his feet as he wished again that she would take the collar off. It wasn't fair to the skin underneath to be trapped like that, and it wasn't right for Kagome to be wearing a collar. He wouldn't wish such a derogatory thing on anyone he hated, and here _she_ was, displaying it on herself like some kind of prize.

He was through the open shoji, being turned by a small hand to face Kagome. This was his chance. He could grab her, hold her till she let loose on him again, even if he couldn't sleep with her nearby anymore or—

The shoji was closed. Miroku was looking at him with veiled…contempt? He hoped so. It was time to go to bed. Better to go now and…well, no sleep. But she wasn't going to get any sleep, either. It was only fair.

A/N: Don't kill me. I'll fix it. Eventually. I promise.

First, though, I'm going to try someone's suggestion and just upload this as is without using QuickEdit. After that, I'll start on the next chapter. Now that Ushicon and the first few weeks of class have settled, I have plenty of writing time. I promise. Let's say…a week this time. Toodles! (runs away)


	34. Moving On

Disclaimer: I own Not Inuyasha. Good for me.

A/N: Hidey-ho, all. Next chapter, as promised.

But first, a word or seventy in response to a comment about Teh Angst: it has been noted that this story includes more than its fair share of angst as opposed to its Comedy/Romance distinction, and that angst is often used to prolong stories in lieu of plot, if I understand correctly. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I didn't quite consider how much angst would come into play in the later parts of the story when I was wading through all the shiny menus and stuff back when I first started uploading; if I wanted to get nitpicky, I could argue that Romance lends itself to more than fluff and relationship-related tomfoolery, but that's not the point here…particularly when I'm inclined to agree. That's also beside the point. (cough)

My best defense to using angst to drag things out is that, when Kagome's and Inuyasha's feelings have such a direct impact upon the plot itself – in this case, whether or not they break the curse, depending upon whether she decides to accept his nightly proposal – angst resulting from, say, her inability to let go of her reservations or his tendency to lash out instead of communicating—well, the results of their arguments _are _integral to the story, and those results are not always gonna be pleasant, or easily ignored. After all, feelings change, and change is not always very comfortable, especially when you don't know how to deal with it or want to acknowledge exactly how you feel in the first place. Now Kikyou's little nudge has effectively thrown them out of the remnants of their comfort zones, and they have yet to figure out what to do about it. Think of it as mental growing pains: it sucks while it lasts, but it's (almost) never permanent.

Off the soapbox now. Time to start settin' things to rights around here. Two more important notes: you'll notice I've officially upgraded from PG-13 to an R, partly because of this chapter, though not for the reasons many of you are hoping for. And credit goes to Midoriko-sama, my pretend 'Net wifey and co-consiprator on many parts of this chapter, for helping it to fruition.

Now, that said, get comfy, 'cause this one's a bit of a doozie.

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 34**

"I've never seen Kagome-sama so quiet," Kohaku whispered. The dismayed worry that had settled over his freckled features late last night was even more apparent now that it was daylight and breakfast had passed without a single word from the modern girl.

Shippou nodded solemnly. Sango had let the kit sleep in her futon last night to give Kagome some privacy, but more than once during the night, the kit's ears had caught sounds of distress from the bed. "Do you think we oughta try to make Inuyasha apologize?"

"An insincere apology will do more damage than none at all," Miroku said firmly, and they nodded agreement. "He knows perfectly well that he shouldn't have lost his temper, and he'll be on the defensive."

Sango rapped her knuckles on the bedpost for emphasis. "Well, we have to do _something. _I don't know how much more of this Kagome-chan can take."

"If you guys don't mind…" They twitched guiltily. After all, Kagome was sitting less than two feet away, and their stage whispers were more than audible. Instead of remonstrating further, Kagome sighed and shook her head. "I'm gonna take a nap now." She retrieved her Discman from the floor, climbed onto her bed, and slipped the headphones on, reclining on her side facing the wall.

"We'll be back later if you should need anything, Kagome-chan," Sango said tactfully. She motioned for the other three to follow her as she rose, Kohaku scrambling to gather the dishes and be out just behind the rest of the little group.

"Are you okay, Kohaku?" Shippou asked as the younger slayer nearly tripped over his own feet, jostling his weapon dangerously and nearly sending the stack of bowls to the floor.

"I'm fine." He ducked his head. "Didn't get much sleep last night. There was just…something weird in the air."

"Something in the air, you say?" Miroku moved aside to let a maid pass, smiling at her but keeping his hands to himself for once. "Don't tell me _everyone_ heard their argument."

Kohaku shook his head earnestly. "No, houshi-sama, not that. Some of us…" He flushed. "I mean, some of the others had nightmares. No one slept much."

"I didn't have any," Shippou volunteered.

"You're demon, Shippou. I doubt you could be affected as easily as young humans." Miroku crossed his arms. "Some demons specialize in affecting their prey's minds. We'd better ask around – discreetly, of course – whether any of the other inhabitants have had similar problems. I myself slept fairly well, no thanks to Inuyasha."

"Maybe we should ask him if he felt anything," Sango suggested, though even Kohaku grimaced slightly at the idea as he excused himself with a bow and hurried back to the kitchens with the dishes.

"He wouldn't have noticed…but he _was_ up all night, so maybe…" The monk gave a theatrical sigh. "If you think it would help, I suppose we can try. I'm not holding my breath, though."

* * *

Inuyasha was less surprised to get three unannounced visitors in his room – usually off limits to all but a few trusted older servants, except by invitation – than he was that they'd taken so long. Sleeplessness hadn't sharpened his wits, or what was left of them, but he wasn't stupid enough to think they'd just let last night slide. "Yeah? What?"

"What are you doing in bed still?" Sango advanced on him like a predator, and if his offense had been less minor, Inuyasha would have been slightly afraid. She glared at him, further incensed by his bored expression. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm hungry," Inuyasha said flatly. "There, you happy?"

Miroku swiftly moved between his lord and his lover before Inuyasha was fed his own entrails; he shrugged wearily to remind her that he'd known this wouldn't work, and merely said, "She does have a point, Inuyasha. This is hardly the sort of thing you can wait out in hopes that it'll go away. That's not the only reason we're here, either."

"You're not gonna tell me anythin' I don't already know. So go the hell away." Inuyasha leaned forward, hands on his knees. He wasn't actually inside his futon, contrary to Sango's remonstration, but sitting on it cross-legged. "Whatever else there is, it can wait till I get somethin' to eat."

"You're such a jerk!" Shippou leaped down, quavering for a moment as Inuyasha lifted the corner of his lip to expose a fang longer than the kit's hand. "You don't scare me! And you're always doing this to Kagome, and it's not fair!" When this elicited no response, the kitsune bristled, stepping onto the futon itself till they were almost face to face. "I wouldn't be surprised if she went and committed seppuku or something! If she does, it'll be all your f—"

"That's the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard!" Inuyasha lunged at the kit, catching him by the vest. "Did she say something about it to you!"

"Maybe she did!" Shippou kicked impotently. "Lemme go!"

"Keh!" The hanyou dropped him head-first onto the floor, refolding his arms. "Stupid brat. She's not highborn enough. She wouldn't even know where to stab. 'Sides, she's always whining about her family and how they _need_ her—"

"Not with all the offers made to her family for this land," Miroku snapped, and was rewarded with a distinctly uneasy twist of Inuyasha's ears. "The idea of suicide was hardly limited to the nobility, either."

"Don't even bother, bouzu. They don't do it any more in this time." Flick. Flick. "She knows I didn't mean it. It wouldn't get to her _that _bad."

"Does getting run through hurt any less if it was done by accident?" Sango asked coldly. "Or does it hurt more because it shouldn't have happened in the first place?"

Flick flick. Inuyasha shifted his weight uncomfortably. "You're gettin' worse than her with the head games. She can just take it out on _me_ any time she wants. It's not like I'm hard to find. And besides, how would she do it?"

"There are plenty of great heights around the castle. Kitchen knives, the river, one of Kaede's poisons…"

"And it's not like you're actually gonna tell her you're sorry," Shippou piped up.

"Indeed." Miroku folded his arms, and they looked up expectantly as Inuyasha rose. "Well? Will you come down with us and speak with her?"

Inuyasha put on a horrible imitation of a smile, then dropped it and jabbed a claw at the shoji. "OUT!"

"That went well," Miroku said dryly as they descended the stairs, having just slowed their pace from a dignified jog. He glanced at Shippou. "Out of curiosity, Kagome-sama didn't really…?"

"Oh, no way," the kit snorted, wiggling his canine feet for emphasis. "She'd never do that. I just wanted to make Inuyasha nervous. I didn't think he was _that _dumb. You think he really believes it?"

* * *

_No way they expect me to actually believe that. _Inuyasha paced around his futon, glaring out at the grey horizon. _She wouldn't do it. She wouldn't even think of it. Where the hell is my_

"Breakfast, Inuyasha-sama."

The voice scared him half to death. Inuyasha glanced around. No fewer than five women were coming into the room. He took one look at their faces and froze, scalp prickling in eerie anticipation. _Oh, gods. What now?_

The first thing Kagome did before slipping off the headphones and out of bed was to check that her new jewelry was all in place: her cycle wasn't so consistent that she could be sure her smell would remain safe much longer. _God forbid, he might forget how much I repulse him, actually touch me again, and then have to remember it once my body gets out of the mood. Thank God I got these back before…_

She shuddered, fastening the choker and trying very hard to keep herself still. She'd done enough of that last night, replaying that horrible argument till the mere thought of seeing him again made her stomach twist. Well, thanks to the bracelets, he'd be able to keep himself in check, and as long as the word _miserable _echoed inside her head, Kagome knew she wouldn't so much as come near him if she could help it. Some of her most treasured memories had instantly been warped, twisted from moments of sweet-shy intimacy into objects of angry scorn by his vilification. She'd _thought _he didn't mind holding her, at the very least…_if he hated it so much, why did he have to wait and tell the whole blankety-blank castle first!_

She took a deep breath, willing her tears to recede as she exhaled sharply, selecting a heavy black sweater and dark jeans to fit her mood. _No more wallowing. I'll just stay away from him. _Judging from his sputtering, he had already been trying to apologize for his outburst as he left – or, rather, as she pushed him out – so he probably wasn't going to bother her much today. He'd forgotten to ask last night, for _some _reason, which meant he'd likely had to sit awake and think about it all night. Kagome tried to derive satisfaction from the idea, but it just made her chest hurt worse. _Stupid damn movies and TV and romance novels. I thought these things were only supposed to have a little angst mixed in before you got to live happily ever after, not make you feel like a Gundam's stomping on your heart every time something goes wrong._

Thus occupied, and aware that her friends had gotten the hint earlier, Kagome forgot to steel herself against the castle's other inhabitants—until a jubilant "Oh, Kagome-sama!" scared her half to death in the hallway, and a pack of older women bore down on her, rendering escape impossible unless she could find an excuse to turn and sprint away.

This did not happen. Instead, Kagome gave them a sickly half-smile. "Good morning." _I don't want to hear about what a monster he is for yelling, leave me alone—_

"Isn't it wonderful?" The speaker, a woman in her late forties, was all but hopping up and down in place. Kagome's fake politeness dripped down her face into slack-jawed shock as the woman rushed on without noticing. "So _good _of Inuyasha-sama! And to think how badly we've misjudged him all this time, letting ourselves think…" She shook her head, and the half-circle bowed in eerie unison. "You must thank him on our behalf later, if we may be so bold, Kagome-sama. It's simply too much for us to say to him ourselves."

A chorus of agreement bounced off Kagome's numbed skull. She shook herself as their expectant smiles began to waver ever so slightly at her silence. "Uh…" _Whatinthefrigginhell! _"I'm…sorry, could you explain what you're talking about one more time, please? I…I've got a slight headache."

"Why, Inuyasha-sama's…dedication to ensuring our safety, of course!" Again, the smile and bow in perfect sync. "One would expect no less of one of his station, but we've had no word about this until last night, of course, Kagome-sama, so we thought you might have been the one to…" A tiny bob of her greying head. "We merely wished to share our relief. Surely you understand, and we wouldn't have you think we didn't know of it…"

Kagome made some sort of answer and turned on her heel, almost running away and leaving slightly puzzled but still-rejoicing servants in her wake. _Of _course _they're all happy about it. Why should they give a rat's ass about his life or whether he yelled at me if it means _they're _gonna be okay? _Once she calmed down, she'd probably be able to empathize. After all, they were only human. How were they supposed to realize how it felt to know Inuyasha would rather die than even remotely consider marrying her as an option?

_That does it. _She knew all too well that she had two choices at this point: go find somewhere to break down and hope no one found her, or calm down and occupy herself, maybe working a bit of energy off in the process. The latter was much more practical, and she set off to do so as quickly as she could.

The universe seemed cheerfully determined to drive her insane, though. Twice on her way to the closest side entrance, Kagome was stopped by unnaturally happy servants and greeted in the assumption that she must be as joyously relieved as they were; if it occurred to anyone that the happy news had been gleaned and distilled from her full-volume comment about ripping his own heart out and Inuyasha's angry reaction, the fact was politely avoided.

Inuyasha wasn't faring much better. He had never seen any of his servants look at him so affectionately; the shock of not getting silently browbeaten was bad enough, but…_open approval_? After the way he'd blown up at Kagome? What was going on here?

"Will Kagome-sama be leaving us soon, Inuyasha-sama?" someone asked cheerfully.

He almost choked, and they beamed at him. But there was no malice in their vapid grins, and Inuyasha finally made the connection: they'd been yelling quite a bit last night, including…

_Fuck. _Forget kugutsu, now his own servants were waiting for him to croak. Had they poisoned his miso? He sniffed at it surreptitiously, aware that they were waiting patiently for his reply, still smiling. _Talk about concern. Rotten, dried-up… _"I dunno. It hasn't come up." And if Kikyou hadn't let Kagome figure it out – how the hell had she…no, that was a stupid question, Kikyou knew him inside and out – then it wouldn't ever have _had _to come up. Crap, talk about a huge mess. "Go see if she needs anything."

"Of course, Inuyasha-sama. How very considerate." More smiles and bows all around.

The room was deserted moments later, his appetite also long gone. Inuyasha growled under his breath and got up. _Great. Now they're probably asking Kagome about it and she's gonna be so pissed that she might… _

Inuyasha smacked himself aside the head with the heel of his hand, willing stupid thoughts begone. _No, just gotta get her to listen to me for a minute. Wench didn't hear a damn word I tried to say last night. _That was just like her—he actually attempted a real apology for once, and did she listen? No, she lectured him and pushed him out of the room. If he could get to her before the servants drove her to throw herself in the river or something…

_No, she can swim, dumbass. _Somehow, the reminder didn't make him feel better. With another shake of his head, Inuyasha moved his almost untouched breakfast aside and willed himself into Kagome's room.

Nothing there, and the freshest traces of her still reeked from last night. _Damn, did she wear those things to bed? _It was highly unnerving having to track her by asking servants – all the more so because the women complied immediately and with warm respect – and he cursed Shimoko for the seemingly convenient gifts yet again. He'd always taken his nose for granted, and being robbed of the ability to find her by scent was like having one of his eyes put out.

He heard her voice around a corner, and paused to peek around the edge warily, unaware that the angle at which his ears stuck out rendered stealth highly impractical. Kagome was talking to a knot of younger women around her age, and judging by their jubilation and her uncomfortable posture, he was already a bit too late. "…sure it's never too early, Kagome-sama," one was saying eagerly. "We hope you'll be able to put it to good use."

"Uh…" Kagome's back was turned to him, but he marked her sudden tension as she looked at something in her hands, evidently just placed there. "I'll…uh…thanks. You can go about your duties now."

The group chirped and fluttered away, and Inuyasha nearly jumped as Kagome looked down at her hands again, half-turning towards him so that he could see a small knife. She was staring at it in such distaste that his first-and-a-half reaction was relief. _No way she's gonna do anything. That's just stupid._

Kagome sighed quietly, and the sound dissolved Inuyasha's hopes entirely as she rewrapped the blade – where the hell had the servants gotten that? – in folds of tattered grey silk and tucked it into her pocket. It was all he could do not to jump out and snatch it away from her. Even if…no, even _though _she wasn't going to use it, it was just stupid to carry anything with an edge around without a proper sheath. And what did she need it for, anyway?

He ducked back just as her head came up. _Whew. …This seems familiar…except no fish-cookies or singing… _Best not to come out and confront her yet, though. Even he knew better than to try talking to her without making sure she'd calmed down first. This way would also enable him to disprove Shippou's stupid accusation, too. Not that he really needed to, of course, but…

Had he lingered a moment longer, he would have caught her deadpan stare, for his sleeve and a drooping ear were visible around the corner. _Idiot. _If he wanted to stalk her instead of saying anything, that just made him a coward, too. Kagome set off at a brisk walk, mind and stomach churning. _Forget him. Maybe I'll go practice archery or something and bore him into leaving me alone._

His newfound popularity proved disadvantageous in more than one way as he tried to follow; by the time he got used to and dealt with the fact that people were pausing to greet him genuinely and exchange pleasantries without smelling as if they'd rather be eating dirt, he'd lost her already. _Dammit. _It was just his luck: not being treated like a monster by everyone else meant that Kagome was pissed at him instead. Life was funny like that sometimes, he'd noticed, in the sense that it usually made him want to break something.

The sky was dark and somber, clouds threatening to dump more rain onto the sodden earth and forest. Inuyasha made a rude gesture towards it on principle, then dropped to the lowest level outside and circled till he located tracks made by Kagome's boots, the clunky soles of which stuck out like open sores amongst the sandal prints in the mud. _There. Just gotta follow these. _He smirked. _Nothin' to it._

Another step sent him reeling for balance as Kagome's sigh drifted towards him, and he barely managed to regain his footing and leap back onto the railing high above their heads as she came back the way her tracks had been leading. Inuyasha glared down at her, heart thundering, and understood with a look to his right. She was probably avoiding Miroku and Sango, who were chatting with Kaede at the shrine. _Oh, yeah, something else the bouzu wanted to talk about, 'cept Sango was busy trying to rip me a new one. _If they could solve it themselves, all to the better. Meanwhile, he had to make sure Kagome didn't do anything rash. Not that she would, of course, but it never hurt to guard her. Just in case.

Inuyasha waited for her to disappear beneath the edge of the upper level, then dropped into the mud, landing neatly on both feet and following her at a slight crouch. He gave Kagome another minute or two to get a safe distance away, then strolled around the side of the castle and nearly had a heart attack.

* * *

It was several hours later when Sango, Shippou and Miroku returned to Kagome's room to eat a late lunch and discuss what they had found that morning: absolutely nothing. "Perhaps we should ask Kaede again," Miroku remarked as Kohaku entered, arms full of trays, looking askance at the empty bed. "Kohaku, have you seen Kagome-sama or Inuyasha today?"

The boy started to shake his head, and Sango had to rescue the tray he'd balanced atop it before it splattered and shattered all over the floor. He flushed. "No, I haven't, but I heard that Inuyasha-sama has been acting strange today."

"Strange?" He had their undivided attention, and his cheeks darkened at his sister's alarm. "How so? Are they fighting again?"

"I'm not sure, ane-ue, but Kagome-sama seems upset with him." Kohaku shrugged and began to lay the dishes out on minute tables. "I heard them shouting again earlier, but I didn't understand what they were saying."

Miroku massaged his head with his gloved hand. "I'm not even sure we should bother Inuyasha with this. At best, he'd insist upon keeping Kagome-sama in her room till everything is over, which would hardly help matters. At worst—"

"I'm going to kill him!" Coronary failure nearly reared its ugly head again, this time en masse, at a snarl behind them. Kagome stomped into the room, kicked her muddy shoes into the corner, and flopped onto the bed, steam almost visibly rising off her slender frame…half of which also seemed to be covered in mud. "I _swear_—!"

No one moved. Precisely eight seconds later, Inuyasha flung the shoji open. "What the hell is your problem!"

"Me!" Kagome jerked upright. "Unless I'm mistaken, _you're_ the one who's been stalking me and going psycho all day! Either tell me what's going on and leave me the hell alone, or just leave me alone!"

"Psycho?" Miroku echoed.

"Yes! Psycho!" Kagome flung her hair out of her eyes, sending tiny chunks of mud flying. "What else do you call it when he tackles me, not once, not twice, but _three times _for no reason!"

"Tackle?" Sango repeated.

"I didn't tackle you, you moron!" Inuyasha's face was a lovely shade of mottled red, and he gulped as their audience gaped at him. "Well, what the hell was I supposed to think? She was rigging up some kind of rope from the beams outside!"

"Because one of the men was trying to get a string of lanterns hung, and his back was hurting him!" Kagome spat.

Inuyasha blinked. "Oh." He shook himself. "Why didn't you say so!"

"Because you almost knocked me over, and _this _happened!" Kagome stood up and jabbed a finger at her mud-stained garments. "Didn't you wonder when the old guy said he didn't think lanterns would upset you so much!"

The hanyou's leg twitched. He folded his arms into his sleeves stubbornly. "I had my reasons. You can always wash it off."

"I tried to!" Kagome was almost cross-eyed with rage. "You wouldn't let me near the river!" She threw up her arms. "And you didn't give me _any _reason!"

"I did, t—"

"'_Because I said so' _is NOT a reason!"

"Calm down, wench. It was just—"

"And _then _you grabbed me up by the railing!"

"You were almost over it, and you'd break your damn neck falling that far!"

"I had _one _leg up there! I was stretching!"

Inuyasha opened his mouth.

"Yes! I was! Think about it _really _hard, Inuyasha! Go on, we'll wait for you!"

Inuyasha bristled…then thought about it, and gulped. "…Well, it looked like you were about to fall to me." He scowled. "And where do you get off talking to me like I'm some kind of moron?"

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response. Later, Inuyasha." She gestured at him to leave, leaning down to pick up a small can from the floor.

"What the…?" As the girl clicked the tab open and the drink hissed, Inuyasha started, snatching it from her hands as she raised it to her mouth. A noseful of carbonation almost made him drop it. "What the fuck were you trying to drink!"

Okay. Weirdness, she could take. Hypocrisy in the form of him yelling at her and then persisting in grabbing her at every opportunity, that was borderline. But not letting her drink her own soda? "That is _it_!" Kagome managed a fairly credible growl for a human, dropping to her knees and rummaging for clean clothes under the bed. "Sango-chan, would you save some food for me, please? I need to get away from here for a while."

The slayer was at a loss for a moment. Then, she suddenly remembered their threat/suggestion to Inuyasha that morning, and his behavior didn't seem quite so odd anymore. "Of course, Kagome-chan," she said levelly, though it was all she could do to keep a straight face. _Someone's going to pay for this…_

"Thanks." They blinked perfect, stupefied sync as she extracted a silk bundle from her pocket and handed it to Sango carefully. "The servants gave that to me. It's for Inuyasha, but I'll trust him not to use it in here and get blood all over my bed. Till then, I'm gonna go take a bath." Kagome gave her friend a bright smile, nodded to the others, and slid past Inuyasha. No one missed how Kagome flinched away from his half-raised hand in passing, and the hanyou couldn't conceal his hurt frustration fast enough.

That knocked some of the amusement out of the situation, even when Inuyasha sniffed curiously at the open can again and squeaked as something went up his nose. Once he could be persuaded to sit down, he was too busy glaring at his food to notice Miroku, Sango and Shippou trading helpless shrugs and mouthing _Do you want to tell him, or should I?_

Miroku cast around for other topics, sobering as he recalled what Kagome's dramatic entrance had interrupted. "We've discovered more activity by what Kaede thinks might be the kugutsu, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha glanced up. "Yeah? So? We know where it is?"

That was better than nothing, Miroku supposed. Sango answered for him as he took a mouthful of rice. "No, but she says the shrine's wards have repelled demonic energy twice in the past two days. That's without considering that Kagome's doses couldn't have been altered by anything but a human or the kugutsu."

"Which doesn't make any sense," the monk repeated for the third time since that morning, laying his chopsticks down as Inuyasha glanced up again with the beginnings of real interest. "The kugutsu shouldn't have made any impact on the shrine, and it did get in—so why the disturbances? And why put something so harmless in the herb blends? It could have done significant damage, but Kaede says she found nothing that didn't belong except a slight stimulant, perfectly safe for a healthy young woman. It makes no sense."

"Are you saying there's another demon around here?" Inuyasha's hackles tried to rise further, which was physically impossible at this point. "And the kugutsu's still running around, not to mention whatever's controlling it?"

"Perhaps the demon and the controller are one—but why would the demon try to get in where the kugutsu could with no trouble?" Miroku wasn't used to being unable to figure things out, and under different circumstances, Inuyasha might have been amused at the monk's near-petulant tone. "We searched the whole castle top to bottom, and none of the servants have seen anything unusual, either, except for a run of nightmares among the younger boys and youths."

Inuyasha toyed with his rice, glad for the chance to think about something else, anything else at this point. "What kind of nightmares? Past ones, like the ones some bug demons try to give humans so they won't notice they're being eaten?"

"No, those kind have to sting their victims first, and Kirara would have found any that might have gotten in." Sango also put her chopsticks down. Her expression became very firm. "Inuyasha, you may not like this, but may I ask you a direct question?"

He didn't like her tone, but he'd always preferred directness over cat-and-mouse. She deserved credit for recognizing that much. "Yeah?"

Sango waited for him to finish chewing his mouthful and look at her warily. "If you've chosen to…finish this by ending your own life, that's your decision—" She held up a hand to placate his angry start. "And I won't try to change your mind. It's not my place. But it's only fair to ask if you intend to try to find the kugutsu and whoever controls it, and eliminate them first. To leave them behind would be worse than irresponsible."

"Of course I'm gonna get rid of 'em," Inuyasha snapped, more than a little miffed at the implication. "What kind of lazy jerk d'you take me for?"

Her face lost its pensiveness, and became almost pitying. "And _when _were you going to tell Kagome-chan this? You didn't give her any indication of whether you planned to let the curse run out, or simply end things first chance."

"I…" Inuyasha gestured at the shoji. "C'mon, you saw how she is right now. She's not gonna listen to me, 'specially not if I bring it up. One of you guys can tell…her…" He faltered. Suddenly he glared at them. "Wait a minute. _You _told me she was gonna…!"

His suspicions were confirmed by a marked increase of activity in the room as the others hastily rose, Kohaku looking blank till he saw Inuyasha's face and started stacking dishes as fast as his hands would move. "I think it's about time we resumed our search," Miroku declared, smooth demeanor only slipping a notch as Inuyasha grabbed him away from the door by the front of his robes. "Now, now, Inuyasha—" He glanced around, and his calm slipped a little further. "Er…where are you all going?"

"I'm sure Miroku would be more than happy to explain everything, Inuyasha," Shippou said hurriedly, and Kohaku nodded rapidly, out of the loop but more than happy to get out of the room.

Miroku shook his head disbelievingly. "Sango, surely you wouldn't leave me in such dire straits…?"

"Don't hurt him too much, Inuyasha. It was Shippou's idea, after all." Sango bowed herself out of the room, wincing only slightly at Miroku's panic. A little honest fighting would do both men some good: Inuyasha could work out some stress, and Miroku…well, Inuyasha did still owe him from their other duel. _Being beaten once in a while's good for you, _Sango reminded herself, and walked away from the room with only the mildest of qualms. _I usually give him worse than Inuyasha, anyway. I wonder how Kagome-chan is doing?_

Sure enough, five minutes later, Miroku was safely away from the room, and Inuyasha was rather grumpily standing as close as he could to the shrine and its warding. "Oi! Hag? You there?"

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Kaede hobbled out of the tiny building and over to where her lord was sulking. It might look like normal standing to most people, but she'd known Inuyasha too long to mistake it. She glanced around. "Where is Kagome? The houshi-sama mentioned that Shimoko-sama has lent her devices so that herbs are not needed, but this old woman misses her company."

"She's takin' a bath." Inuyasha shifted his weight uneasily. Kaede's single eye was giving him that knowing look. On the whole, he'd preferred it when she was a brat and didn't have wrinkles and that creaky voice and a lifetime of experience to use against him. "So, what's this about a demon and the shrine?"

"The shrine's ward was tried twice the past two days, once very early yesterday morning, and once very late last night." She moved her frail shoulders in a helpless shrug. "Before I was informed they were not necessary, I had prepared two more doses for Kagome, and I found a weak stimulant mixed in when I took them apart to dispose of them."

"Mixed in? So, it's someone who's good with herbs, not just a kitchen server or something?"

Kaede shook her head. "Nay, I had none of the stuff of my own…" She chuckled. "In this case, it may well have been a prank, intended to be discovered. I've given that herb out myself more than once, and a few of the menfolk just might have their own stores of it."

"What, for energy or somethin'?" Inuyasha thought of the chores the men did – chopping wood, repairing sheds, maintaining and polishing weapons and armor – and snorted at the thought of anyone needing help with little things like that. "Why would someone put that crap where Kagome would take it? It's not poisonous or anything, right?"

The old woman made a funny noise, half cough and half chuckle. "Not precisely, Inuyasha. The herb in question is used more as an aphrodisiac than for strength to do menial tasks."

"Oh." There his face went again. He frowned, both at a new thought and at the fact that the hag had caught him blushing. _She _seemed perfectly at ease with the subject. "So, why would someone try to slip her some of that?" The frown became a low snarl. "One of the men thinking they could seduce her or something?"

"Nay. It has no effect on judgment unless mixed with sake or more potent drugs, of which there were none. Kagome would hardly have lost her wits and been vulnerable to unwelcome advances after taking it," Kaede said calmly, assuming a grave expression to keep from smiling at Inuyasha's unwilling relaxation. The boy couldn't have been more transparent. She turned away, sauntering toward the forest and speaking casually. "I would be more concerned about ensuring peace between friends, so that ye might work together and not against each other."

"Don't look at me," Inuyasha grumbled, staring up at the low-hanging clouds. "She's so pissed off, she won't even talk to me."

"And without reason?" Kaede's tone slaughtered any hopes he might've had of her not knowing the particulars of their argument. "Have ye even tried to apologize?"

"I did! She wasn't listening!" he protested. Much as he hated whining, especially coming from his own mouth, there really wasn't anyone around more qualified to listen to it than Kaede, and he knew it. "And she's still avoiding me today." He grimaced, thinking of the looks she'd given him when he pulled her away from the rope, or stopped her from going to the water, or away from the railing…or even just out of the room. "It's like I have the plague or something."

The old woman was quiet for so long that he wondered if she was going deaf, or just ignoring him. Then, as thunder rumbled warningly overhead, Kaede glanced around at him. "My husband had much the same problem, except the other way around."

Inuyasha tilted his head a little. "How's that?" He took a step closer. Kaede might be old, and was probably going to turn this into a lecture, but she was the only woman he could actually talk to besides Shimoko with experience in these matters, and he'd be damned before he gave his niece the satisfaction of asking.

"Whenever something went wrong, anything at all from poor crops to our son dressing the horses in our best festival outfits and getting dung all over them, he would blame himself." Kaede chuckled. "Never before or since have I heard a man apologize so much. He was certain that everything was his fault, and though many things were – no one is perfect, least of all a new husband and father – he would say nothing but 'Please forgive me' for days on end."

"Sounds like a wimp." Despite himself, Inuyasha was mildly interested. "So, how is this like me again?"

Kaede laughed quietly. "The same feeling, expressed different ways. He made his guilt clear by apologizing constantly for it, while a certain hanyou of my acquaintance knows nothing of unburdening himself except to act as if none of the fault is his."

_Lecture time. Great. _Inuyasha shrugged. "What's your point?"

"For some, Inuyasha, it requires great courage to apologize." Kaede sighed, rubbing the skin around her bad eye with age-twisted fingers. Inuyasha had a very unsettling moment, wondering how long it would have taken Kikyou's hands to look like that…and whether Kagome's ever would. "It depends upon one's personality. In his case, it wasn't the ability to confess mistakes that was lacking. And in this hanyou's case, the ability to recognize and feel remorse for wrongdoing is alive and well, hardly requiring an old lady to tell him precisely what he should not have done or said."

Inuyasha started to ask for the point again, though he was less than okay with the way this lecture was going. He couldn't even really dismiss it as one; Kaede hadn't raised her voice yet, or said anything _too _touchy. It was almost like listening to Kagome, except that he had nothing to look at for distraction now.

"Tell me, Inuyasha…" Kaede was looking away again, either ignoring or unaware of having interrupted him. "If the hanyou could apologize to her right now, would he?"

"Hell yeah, if she'd listen." Inuyasha glanced around to confirm that no one was eavesdropping. "But she won't."

"Not so long as ye say she won't. Tell me one more thing: does it require more sacrifice to apologize repeatedly, or not have to apologize in the first place?"

There it was. He'd known it was coming, but that didn't make it much more palatable. "What, you think I _like_ blowing up at her or something? It just kind of happens. I don't like it, but—"

"I heard much the same thing from another man once. He said so when I asked him why he'd broken his wife's arm for the third time."

Rage nearly made Inuyasha forget that this was an old woman, and his love's younger sister, and that he had no right to hurt her. "Don't _ever _compare me to some fucking human coward! You think I'd ever hurt anyone weaker than me, much less Kagome! What the hell is your problem! Anyone tries to hurt her, and I'll kill them!"

Kaede remained still. The scent of old skin, robes and herbs remained unruffled, not even a trace of fear striking through. "Ye know very well that there are different kinds of hurt. If gossip remains reliable, Kagome is now hurt by the assurance that her presence is offensive, and unless ye specifically correct it—"

"I want to!" Inuyasha almost tore a chunk of his scalp off as he forgot his claws and jammed a hand into his hair. "I told her I liked having her around. What else am I supposed to do? She won't listen to me."

"What carries more weight, the shout of disgust, or the whisper of reassurance?" Kaede let him digest that a moment. "A young woman may very well suffer more from harsh words out of a trusted friend's mouth than any blows, particularly when she is already inclined to believe the worst about herself. Don't roll your eyes, Inuyasha—" He twitched. Her back was still turned. How did…? "She either blames ye, or herself, or both, and apology may not be sufficient to undo the damage. It's frighteningly easy to convince someone of the worst, but persuading her that she is _not _a source of constant misery will take a great deal of work."

"So what the hell do I do?" The notion of having scarred her for life wasn't one he'd even considered, and it made him feel sick. _Shit. I'm no better than her dad. _The thought appalled him, and he shook his head in near-desperation. "Okay, so I fucked up big time. What do I do!"

"First, do what my man did. Stop wasting time blaming yourself." The old woman's voice sharpened. "Nothing less than a genuine apology will reach her. There is great difference between realizing ye were wrong, and coddling guilt to the point of being unable to acknowledge it for fear it may expose weakness, or of clinging to it instead of learning from the mistake and changing for the better." She finally creaked and shifted around to stare at him piercingly. "I drew a likeness between ye and the abusive husband because ye share a great fault. Your inability to stop behavior ye know to be wrong stems not from a character defect that decrees ye _must _always hurt loved ones, but from your own refusal to change it. Much easier to lose your temper, apologize and hope it doesn't happen again than to remember to stop and look at things calmly the next time ye start to get angry, isn't it?"

"Oh, come on. You make it sound so _nice _and _stupid _and _easy, _la la la—"

"If it was easy, no one would ever make a mistake twice, Inuyasha. What is _easy _is to refuse to even try, and continue to blame your upbringing or heredity or temper for your behavior, instead of acknowledging that these things do not _force _ye to act a certain way, that it is possible to hold your tongue and wait till the proper words come to explain that ye do not hate her, it is only frustration and dislike of yourself that makes ye lash out."

"Have ye…_you _been practicing this in case I'd stop by or something?" Rain began pattering gently on their heads. Neither moved, barely blinking as they spoke. "And did the servants write the whole argument down or something? They know all of what we said better than I do."

"Are ye selfish enough to keep hiding behind your feelings, or will ye at least try to make amends and keep them mended?"

"I'll think about it. Get inside before you melt or something." He turned around.

"Don't think about it. _Do _it. Courage helps one to apologize, but character prevents the necessity."

"I _said _I'll think about it. I've been known to take things the wrong way, so I'd better be careful before I do anything," he snapped.

"As ye wish." Kaede continued her unhurried tread back to the shrine, and Inuyasha was suddenly very sorry that the wards kept him away. He would've preferred to carry her, or at least shield her from the rain as she walked. Pushy or not, she had just been trying to help, and watching her hobble slowly through the rain was more than he could bear.

Whether it had helped or not, well, that remained to be seen. He'd never really even considered _not_ yelling, changing himself so fundamentally for someone else's sake. The only two people he'd ever loved had also been the only people in whose presence he'd always felt guilty just raising his voice. Everyone else was used to it. If they didn't like it, they didn't have to be around him, and he didn't give a crap if he hurt their feelings or not. Kagome _would _have to throw that out the window. Gods knew she'd screwed up everything else…

Unaccountably, the thought made his lips pull up slightly, without his noticing. If he'd screwed her life up, she'd returned the favor more than admirably. That sounded just about right for Kagome.

Then he remembered what had brought the subject of change up, and the smile was gone. Inuyasha lowered his head and sprinted back to the castle, almost welcoming the wet sting on his back-swept hands and upturned face as the sky opened up. Maybe he could take that as a sign of catharsis, purging and renewing himself and finally breaking the damned cycle of normal-angry-shout-shout back-cry-guilt-normal. Now, all he had to do was talk with her and get her to see that he'd just been stupid, and it had nothing to do with her, and he was going to try not to do it anymore. Kaede had made it sound almost insultingly simple—why hadn't he thought of it?

* * *

_Because it's a friggin' impossible pain in the ass, _he thought furiously, about three or four years into dinner. That was what it felt like, anyway. _How the fuck am I supposed to make up with someone who won't say a damn word to me!_

If he didn't know better, he would think she was _trying_ to offend him. Whenever they reached for the same dish or even adjacent ones on the little table, Kagome would freeze, or draw back quickly, taking extra care not to come into contact with him. Her whole body was tense, making him perversely grateful for the bracelets, which were probably saving his nose a _lot _of grief.

"I told you last night, I didn't mean it," he said testily as she withdrew her hand yet again at the threat of his a half foot away. She looked him in the eye for the first time, and his temper rose steadily at the anger, disbelief and hurt that met him. _No, no, she's got a right to be mad, I bitched at her in front of the whole fucking castle and they've been telling her how great it is all day. Can't snap at her. _"Don't look at me like that."

"I do apologize, Inuyasha," Kagome replied airily, sending his stomach plummeting into his knees. He knew that tone. "After all, we all know how much cow eyes offend you."

His legs jerked convulsively. "Look, I said I'm sorry! You want me to say it again now that you're actually listening?"

"Now that I'm _actually listening_?" Her voice rose to a painful pitch. "You throw everything my pathetic little self has been clinging to back in my face, reduce me to an annoying nothing _for everyone to hear_, and now you accuse me of _not listening_! How _dare _you!"

Kaede hadn't told him how to handle this one. Inuyasha clamped down on every bitter retort that sprang to mind, aware that she was probably going to get louder before she got quieter, and that adding fuel to the fire would be suicidal. "I know, I know. I didn't mean any of it, okay? I'm sorry."

It felt sincere, and he knew for a fact that it even sounded sincere. But Kagome merely sat back on her heels, glaring at him coldly, eyes hard. "You didn't mean it, huh? That makes you the best damn liar I've ever heard. And the loudest."

The picture she presented looked and sounded a hell of a lot like _him_, now that he thought of it._ Why not? She's seen it and heard it enough…_

Inuyasha was treated to a brief mental recap of Kagome trying to apologize to him for—what was it? For kissing him that first time, back in the treehouse. She hadn't really even done anything, had she? And now _she _was the one refusing to accept the apology, and considering that he'd actually earned this, he knew she must have felt like shit back then, saying she was sorry just to keep him happy. _I yelled at her last night for kissing me, too…_

_Nuh-uh, no guilt, remember what the hag said? Waste of time. _Inuyasha sat up straighter, unconsciously lowering his head till it was below Kagome's, a faintly canine gesture of humility and supplication. "You're right. And I forgot to tell you, I'm not…going anywhere till after we find the kugutsu and make sure everyone's safe. I wasn't just gonna let you wake up to find me dead tomorrow morning."

"No, you were going to let me wake up and find you dead sometime next month so I could spend the rest of my life wondering why I didn't realize it sooner."

Frustration almost choked him. "Dammit, Kagome, I'm sorry! What else do you want me to say?"

Kagome laughed abruptly, in sheer disbelief. "What do _you _care?" She saw that that hurt him even more. The bitterness she'd been trying to ignore all day had quietly roused itself the longer she sat here, roaring back to life at his clumsy but honest attempts at apology, and now she couldn't stop its outpouring. Pain at hurting him back just fed the malevolent energy, almost like another person speaking from within her, so that the rest of her prayed he would stop trying and just let her go: this wasn't her, she just wanted to stop this and get away… "I'm going to bed." Knees were forced straight, body unbending and feet gliding toward the door as if nothing was wrong.

Inuyasha did not know this, and he reacted the only way he knew how. "Where do you think you're going!"

Things happened very swiftly. Inuyasha moved to block her path. Kagome scowled at him, tried to duck under his arm, and twisted away with a yelp of protest as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Would you _stop that_!" She backed away, eyeing him like a cornered animal. "First you don't want me touching you, now you grab me every chance you get! Make up your freakin' mind!"

"Get it through your head! I didn't mean that shit about you making me miserable, all fucking right! Is that why you're acting like I've got leprosy?"

Her mood shifted instantly. She very deliberately walked toward him, stopping less than a foot away and studying him with absolutely no apparent emotion. "Did you ever kiss Kikyou?"

Inuyasha's heart skipped a couple of beats. "What?"

"Did. You. Ever. Kiss her."

"…No." The word dropped into the silence like a ball of lead. His scalp prickled again.

Kagome assumed a mock thoughtful expression. "Wow. That sucks. Maybe it's a guy thing to wait and get your tonsil-hockey practice on someone you don't actually care about." She stood on tiptoe to hiss directly into his shocked face. "Or maybe that's why you didn't mind taking some of the nicest moments of my _whole life _and turning them into a dumb chick entertaining herself while you put up with it. For everyone to hear, of course." Her smile was brilliant. The force of it scared Inuyasha worse than Naraku ever had. "Now, every time I remember hugging you, there's nothing happy or secure or even friendly about it. You've reduced all those nice little kisses to something we do when one of us gets bored or mad or horny, and not one shred of anything else in it. The thought of touching you at all now makes me feel so stupid, I could be sick. The sacred has now been thoroughly and permanently defiled. Congratulations." She reached up and patted him very, very gently on the cheek with her open palm. "I'm going to my room now."

"Kagome…" There was no anger, only complete bewilderment. He had had no idea of any of this. How was he supposed to know one stupid sentence could have ruined that much? "You…" He reached for her face blindly, unaware that he was speaking aloud. "How do I fix it?"

"You leave me alone." She delicately took his wrist between thumb and forefinger, returning it to his side and stepping back with an elaborate bow. "Ask, unless it turns out you don't like sleep, either."

"Kagome, I didn't know—_listen _to me!"

"One more chance."

Snap. "It's not my fault your brain went and blew one single stupid fucking thing I said into the end of the world! Excuse the hell out of me for trying to own up to something for once! I was wrong, but hell if I'm gonna lick your feet any more! Now, will you marry me!"

Kagome smiled again. "Whyever would you want to marry a neurotic barnyard animal like me? Of course I won't. Good night." She willed herself out of the room before the dam could break.

Inuyasha stared at the spot where her head had been. He was curiously numb, treated perhaps to the same sort of detachment that had buoyed her last night. Now she was more demonic than detached, he thought—or was that just what raw honesty looked like? No wonder people constructed so many lies for themselves and each other. If that was honesty, he was pitifully grateful that he'd never had to be honest with Kikyou. Life with the priestess had been so _simple_…well, until the hideous tangle of deception and seeming betrayal surrounding her death had presented a little snag. And their plans to run away together, both evading their responsibilities and living with the knowledge that they had left behind people who needed them: perfectly simple. Trust Kagome to screw it all up.

He headed directly for the little cache of sleeping powder in the corner of his room, unearthing enough to send three grown humans into permanent slumber, and dumped it in his water, heedless of the taste. All he wanted was sleep. Maybe he could even dream a little, and Kagome wouldn't be there.

To his disappointment, he did not dream. Instead, he woke to heavy sunlight, offensively warm and sweet on his face. Inuyasha shielded his eyes with one hand and instantly knew Kagome had indeed said all those things, and that he still wasn't forgiven, and his heart felt as if something had been chewing on it.

He didn't see Miroku on his way down, or the servants, though they might've been there. Her room was empty, and the smell was old, days old, no doubt thanks to those damn bracelets. By now his nose was beyond caring about niceties: it missed her, and so did he. Maybe she was in a better mood now…?

Not quite willing to believe that, but drawn as if by unseen and very long strings, Inuyasha's feet took him out into the light and beauty of a fresh spring morning. He saw where she had probably gone and followed. Out beyond the servants' silent huts, through dead woods and beyond, to the arm of the river tucked against the side of the castle, and Kagome was there, just as he'd thought.

"Heya!" His chest ceased hurting and felt strange for a different reason as Kagome unbent from where she had waded out to her knees. She was wearing something he'd never seen before, a short white dress that clung Everywhere but still looked exceedingly comfortable. She certainly moved in it easily enough, wading back till she was standing on the banks and water was running off white skin. No collar. No bracelets, only Kagome in that dress, grinning at him a little sheepishly. She waved, then bent to skim her fingers across the water's surface with a quick laugh. "Come on, it's _cold_! It feels great!"

Inuyasha exhaled shortly. He really was forgiven. He swore he'd never understand her, ever…not that that mattered, of course, looking at her hair curling a little over her bare shoulders and something shiny she'd put on her lips. She was definitely weird, but…good weird. Kagome weird. His

Stink

No 

Legs moving, eyes turning to him, curious

"Kagome, watch—!"

_Thunk _and red, spraying everywhere.

Kagome looked down in mild shock, staring at the mass of unreal flesh jutting from between her breasts. Purple and red and dark, and why was her dress not white anymore?

Something howled behind her, but she didn't notice till the swipe of claws freed her. She didn't know she had to be freed till her legs buckled and the fullness in her chest slowly ceased to be full nothing and gradually became pain, sharp, tearing unreality sucking dark hurt into her. Her hand came up to touch it, but her fingers refused to come into contact and dropped away stubbornly. _Huh?_

Inuyasha killed the kugutsu with one stroke, leaping back in time to catch Kagome as blood fell and she followed to the ground. "Inuyasha," she said, not to get his attention, but out of surprise and no other words at hand. His face floated in front of her, and he said something, placed a hand on the not-nothingness and withdrew it as agony forced her voice to work again. "No! Stop…Inuyasha…"

"Kagome?" The hanyou cradled her, rocking the soaked form in his arms. A steady chorus of denial was chanting in his head, crooning _Notagainnotagainotagain _to a background of soundless whimpering. Dissolution of the limb piercing her torso did nothing to allay either of their suffering. "Kagome?" He shook her, and she looked at him reproachfully, as if to say, _Hey, that hurts, jerk_, and closed her eyes and died.

"_**KAGOME!"**_

His eyes burst, and when his vision caught up, he was staring at the ceiling in his room. Breath burning his mouth, Inuyasha's arms thrashed, seeking a wetly limp form in the sticky darkness. Nothing. No wet, nothing on him, no broken Kagome. Just futon, sliver of moon, window, walls. Nothing.

"Kagome?"

_Dream. _No, nightmare. Not real. No kugutsu killing her, no hate, no fear, no anger, no blood-stink, no red wet.

"Kagome!"

Yes, fear. Where was she? Safe?

"Kagome!"

No answer. He almost smothered in panic, then remembered her room. She'd be there. Then, so was he—

Kagome, not surprisingly, had had a godawful night. Almost the moment she stepped outside, the hate had deserted her, leaving her to lean against the wall and try to let tears come and clean some of the residue away. But she wasn't even allowed that. All she could think was, _Now we're even. Pain plus pain, and we'll never ever be able to talk about it any more. I blew it. _He'd tried to apologize, God knew why, but he'd tried, and tried, and she loved him and wanted to forgive him. But she couldn't. Too weak and too stupid to go back into the room and see how he reacted to a hug. Now the ball was in his court, she was going to have to sit and wait in case he came out and hugged her anyway and said it was all right, oh, and did she want to marry him, for real? No. Now he would leave it, and never bring it up again, and she'd earned it fair and square. Stupid.

The little wall of anger around her heart shrugged and asked what the use was. It wasn't like she should encourage him either way now that she'd effectively cut off the snuggly-wuggly crap, right? Better now than after.

Around what had to be four or five in the morning, not long but too long before dawn, she kicked off her suffocating blankets and eased off the bracelets and slid out into the muggy dead of the castle's night. It was comforting, in a way. She felt sheltered. Maybe if she stood still in it long enough…

The itch that had followed her in the back of her mind all day. In her room. Kagome's world shrank to that awareness, and she hurriedly backpedaled in the hall, stopping in a corner and not knowing why. What was he doing here in the middle of the night? Realized how much she'd insulted him and just now thought of a witty comeback? Hysteria rose, a giggle quickly stifled under the thud of her pulse.

Heavy, bare footsteps, heavier breathing, and the sudden stop. "Kagome?" Her heart slowed, then sped up, matching the brush of claws on her bare shoulder. "Kagome!"

Crushing warmth, swept off her feet by a huge embrace of Inuyasha's arms hugging her to his chest. Her world exploded outward, and suddenly she was awake, struggling against him in surprise and discomfort. "Inuyasha, what're you doing?"

That was her. Alive. Just a dream.

Kagome yelped as he bent over a little, allowing her feet onto the floor but resting nearly half his weight on her in the bargain. "Kagome…" He butted his nose into her neck, more of a jab than a caress, and inhaled deeply. His arms closed again with a shudder.

…………………_I think I missed something. _"Inuyasha? Inuyasha, put me down." She locked her knees, pushing against him carefully, then more forcefully. What the hell was he doing?

Resolve softened for a moment, betrayed by a soft whuff against her other ear, the sound a curious dog makes in the course of investigating a new person. It was so cute and unexpected that tears threatened, and she banged on his side weakly with the fist not trapped between them. "Inuyasha, let me go. _Now_."

Confusion heightened as he shuddered again, sleeves flapping against her back as he made a sound of denial and lipped her neck. There was no lust in the embrace or the gesture, only a kind of obstinate, wordless refusal to release her.

"Inuyasha, you're scaring me. I just told you…" He rumbled, crushing her again and making noise, possibly words. "What?" Kagome listened very hard to the mumble against her neck. "You…don't want to? Why?"

The shaking renewed, and despite herself, Kagome found a tiny, unattended wisp of hope making itself known. _Is he upset because of me?_

Aghast at her selfishness, Kagome nonetheless tried pulling away again as soon as he was still. This time his mumble was more clear, and Kagome felt lightheaded: "I thought I lost you again."

_Again? He's never… _Cold doused the confusion and concerned hope. _Kikyou. He had some kind of Kikyou nightmare, and so he comes to _me _to fix it! _Anger reasserted itself, and she doubled her efforts to free herself. "Let go of me, you hypocrite!"

Of course, doubling next to nothing equals very little, and Inuyasha barely noticed other than to bury his nose in the other side of her neck. She was moving too much, but that meant she was alive, and her scent said she was fine. …Much better than that, really, though his mind was too frazzled to register more than additional approval at the moment. And that request. He didn't like it. "I don't want to."

"Too bad!" Kagome gave up for the moment, regaining her breath and forbidding herself to relax and listen to his heartbeat. She could feel it racing against her shoulder anyway. "Inuyasha, you're not thinking straight. Let me go so we can talk."

Her inner struggle had worked its way into her scent by now, and Inuyasha shook his head in mute objection. He didn't want to upset her, but letting go wasn't an option, either. "No. Hold still."

"Let go." Sweat was beginning to form along her front wherever they were mashed together, and her legs began to wobble. How much longer could she keep this up? Her eyes stung again. "Come on, Inuyasha, this isn't funny."

"Just…little longer."

Was he trying to kill her! "I don't…" Kagome swallowed hard. "I don't know what you're thinking, but it's not _me_. It's not right. Just…"

"Why not?" He smoothed her hair. That wounded quality was back in his voice, stiffening her spine and threatening to open the floodgates at once.

She forced herself to speak sternly, with some semblance of detachment. "Because I'm not Kikyou, and you're gonna regret this later. Now get off me."

"Kagome, I don't—"

"I don't care, Inuyasha. Let go."

"I can't."

"I said I don't care. Let _go_."

"Well, I do, and I don't want—"

"Don't tell me that _now_, Inuyasha!" Kagome gritted her teeth. Bitterness and blind hope roiled, disrupting what was already a highly precarious balance. She pushed feebly. "Off."

"I thought you were dead, and you're still mad—"

"You're darn straight on that one. Say whatever you like. Say you _care_. It doesn't matter. Now—"

"Kagome, please."

The balance veered crazily. All the hurt struggled with hope, none of it believing her ears or that he would almost _beg _her for anything. "……Inuyasha, I—"

"Please." A clawed hand slid up her back, tension melting beneath it like a hot knife parting bread and reforming in its wake.

"Don't do that." Kagome squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't let him in again. If she did and he turned on her one more time… "Please let me go. _Please _stop touching me."

"I told you, I _can't_." Lips on her neck again, nose tickling the sensitive flesh with his breath. "Had a nightmare…you got killed. Fucking scared me."

"You said I make you miserable." Broken record or not, that was what sustained the hate, and if she didn't uproot it, it would never be entirely gone. "You _said_—"

His haori scraped her cheeks as his shoulders lifted slowly. "I was lying, stupid. Just mad 'cause your smell messed with my head and I didn't know what to think. I like having you with me. You make me happy, even when you piss me off. You can't think I hate you. I don't."

Tears leaked from beneath her lids. _Trust him to tell me so by yelling. _Love seeped into her steadily, whispering over the poisonous hiss of her anger that she knew he meant it, that the emotion behind this real, and the outburst just a display of temper and ill judgment. With one last sigh of resignation, the wall came down, and Kagome almost crumpled. "You stupid _jerk_!" He let her thump him soundly with her free fist as she choked on a sob. "God, Inuyasha, I'm so sorry—"

"Shut up," he murmured, and the command was so incongruous with the scene and his demeanor, and yet so perfect and normal and Inuyasha, that Kagome snorted before she could help herself, giggling helplessly till she was having difficulty breathing more from laughter than crying. "Geez, wench…" He petted her hair lightly, frowning in the darkness. "Oh, c'mon…" Dimly aware that these were goods tears – the kind that don't heal entirely, but set the stage for a clean recovery, free of lingering darkness that might otherwise wait to reassert itself later – Inuyasha heaved a shuddering sigh of his own, content to let her soak his front while his nose soaked up the release of whatever had been holding her back, happy to have her normal scent back.

…Or maybe not so normal, as his mind eased itself out of panic and fear, fully back into the present, where Kagome was perfectly normal and had heard the truth, which had not killed him to say, to his half-serious surprise in retrospect. He might feel stupid later, but so long as she felt better, who the hell cared?

…And what was he thinking about again? Gods, her neck smelled good. Without thinking, he tasted it, and found nothing to complain about. So he did it again. Then once more, and then stopped. "Kagome?" She had gone strangely quiet.

"Did you just lick my neck, Inuyasha?" Her deadpan delivery was completely forced, of course, and his nose did not miss her body's acquiescence, but it did the trick. He grunted noncommittally, releasing her so that she was leaning against him with his arms resting around her shoulders. "Don't worry about it. It probably started up yesterday, except I had the bracelets on." Kagome forced another laugh. "No wonder I couldn't deal with anything. I'm a basket case when I have PMS."

"Don't blame it on yourself. I was the one being the asshole." With the moment beginning to fade, Inuyasha wasn't quite certain he wanted to continue this line of talk. "So, you want to go back to your room and get some sleep? Sango and the runt are probably worried about you."

"Are you going back to sleep? After that nightmare?" Kagome couldn't see him, but he could just see her face.

"What're you worrying about _me _for? I'll be fine, wench. Get your human ass back to bed." He patted her shoulder awkwardly, acutely aware that she was going to have to get the bracelets back on and keep them on permanently for a while. The mention of bed had propelled his mind into unhealthy regions, none of them pertaining to nightmares. _Stupid. _It would be just great to drool on her again and then blame it on her. No more, he promised himself.

"Um…" Kagome didn't want to push it, but her adrenaline was running high, and if he really wasn't averse to her, this would be the perfect chance to find out. "Yeah. Good night."

An attempted peck on his cheek missed and hit his chin instead. In the course of laughing and trying to correct her mistake, Kagome somehow found herself leaning up into his lips instead, and what was supposed to be a brief touch heated them both, searing her insides till she gripped his haori tighter and—

Blindling light, not figurative but very real and very painful, ruptured the darkness. "Who's there?" a young voice demanded, high with fright and the squeak of near-adolescence.

Kagome's jaw dropped, and she whirled away from Inuyasha, holding up her hand to block the light. The hanyou deftly maneuvered her back, Tetsusaiga at the ready, but Kagome tugged at his arm. "Souta? Is that you?"

The light pulled away, highlighting a very scared and relieved boy's face. "I knew you were in here somewhere!" The flashlight dropped to the floor as he leapt for Kagome, nearly knocking her over. Inuyasha supported her so she could hug him back, whispering questions and reassurances and questions as fast as possible.

What…the…? 

"Inuyasha." The hanyou yelped like a little girl, whirling to face the filmy outline standing in the corner. Kikyou's voice was very, very grim, and didn't do much to assuage his fears. "We have a slight problem."

* * *

A/N: …Gahhh, that was draining. (dramatic sigh)

Seriously, everyone, here's my public service message for the day: don't _ever _let pride keep you from admitting you're wrong. It just hurts everyone concerned, in any kind of relationship. I mean it. (stern looks all around)

That said, as you could probably tell, things will definitely pick up a bit (read: a lot) from here on. Hold onto your butts. Till next time, have fun.


	35. Using Your Head

Disclaimer: No own. Getting lazy. You know what I mean by now.

A/N: Stuff. And things and whatnot. Nothing to say except that Life has been horrendously busy lately (20-hour drives, setting up transfers to new university and searching for job while keeping up with homework all make my brain hurt), so let's get to it. Thanks for patience, all.

Oh, and QuickEdit has pulled yet another charming trick: eliminating question marks when I pair them with exclamation points. If I seemed a bit nerdy with making statements out of what should've been angry questions last chapter a la Speed Racer, it was ff dot net acting up again. Sigh. Well, anything not to get the words mashed again, knock repeatedly on wood…

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 35**

Inuyasha was _really _starting to revisit his regrets about not just taking Kagome up on her initial assumptions and having her for dinner the night she got there, which might have spared them all this crap. It was more than bad enough to have woken up from that nightmare after the fight, then lost it in more sense than one—but to be caught in the middle of _that _by Kagome's little brother and possibly Kikyou as well, and then be informed that there was a problem by the latter, who was also the calmest and most capable person he'd ever known…quite frankly, it sucked.

Not surprisingly, Kagome wasn't helping. She'd insisted upon rushing the kid directly to her room, leaving Inuyasha to wonder whether to follow or not till Kikyou drifted after her, forcing him to rush after both and nearly barge into the shoji, which Kagome had unthinkingly closed and Kikyou failed to reopen as she passed through. Then Sango and Shippou had to be roused and introduced, and _then _Kagome had to finish calming Souta down long enough to tell them why he had come to the castle now, in the dead of night, and after two months of her absence.

"Well, Dad's getting lonely without you there," the boy mumbled lamely. They were perched on Kagome's bed, Sango smiling reassurance at him from the floor as he eyed her and then Shippou's tail and feet with undisguised curiosity in the eerie half-light of a torch near the foot of the bed. Inuyasha was crouching well back in the shadows, and Souta hadn't gotten a good look at the silent, unsmiling priestess yet, much to Kagome's relief. "And he wanted to know if that other guy was telling the truth about you being okay, 'cause you sounded kind of upset when he talked to you. I asked if I could come and see you, but Dad said no, so I waited till everyone was asleep and came out here by myself."

"Did you not know human entry into the castle is forbidden?" Kikyou asked from the back of the room. Kagome felt a rather unfamiliar pang of gratitude: for once, the quiet voice was gentle, not accusatory. "The woods are not entirely safe for a child on his own, either."

"I go out there a lot by myself," Souta protested, squinting to see whoever had addressed him. "Besides, no one else would come with me even if I asked."

"That's not the point, Souta." Kagome poked him to reclaim his attention before he could realize Kikyou looked exactly like her; she didn't think he was ready for That Story just yet. "You should've at least waited for morning. And how'd you get in?"

Souta's shoulders hunched, and Kagome's raw nerves twisted a little more at his guilty mumble. "I know, but…I just wanted to see if you were okay. I've snuck out a lot by myself, even when it's dark, and I never got anyone following me before. I didn't know—"

"Following you?" Kagome and Inuyasha repeated in synch. Souta half-smiled nervously as they blinked at each other, the hanyou retreating with uncharacteristic tact as Kagome spoke again. "Something was following you? Where? Did you see anything?"

"I dunno. It just felt like something was watching me the whole time. There was no one outside here, either, so I just walked in." His voice trembled, and Kagome squeezed his shoulders lightly. "I thought maybe it was the monster thing Dad was talking about, and I'm not a girl, so…"

Kagome snorted before she could help herself. "Inuyasha eats sushi raw, but that's pretty much all. He doesn't eat people, whether you're a girl or not, and he's a hanyou, _not _a 'monster thing.' Dad just…got a bad first impression." _Not that I didn't, either, but that's about five light-years beside the point. _"Not only has he not eaten me, he's turned out to be a pretty good guy. He doesn't even bite." Inspired, she beckoned with one hand. "Inuyasha, c'mere. Show him you don't bite."

"What am I, your pet?" he complained, rising to his feet just outside the light. "Don't blame me when he messes himself…" And Inuyasha stepped into full view, blood-red eyes and white fangs glistening dully in the pale orange glow. He clicked the tips of his claws together absently, one ear flicking at the stunned silence. "I didn't feel any demons out there. But first, kid, you wanna tell us how you got past the barrier without anyone noticing?"

Souta tensed, fingers tightening till his nails dug into Kagome's comforter and right leg. His eyes expanded slowly, and his mouth flapped for a few useless seconds. "Wow…" Almost forgetting the others' presence in his excitement, Souta tugged at his sister's bare arm urgently. "That's _so _cool! We all figured Dad just thought the guy had bad zits or something! I didn't know he was actually part demon!"

Kagome nearly fell off the bed, and Shippou came down with a bad fit of the near-giggles at Inuyasha's expression. "What the hell are 'zits,' kid?"

"Your name's Inuyasha?" Souta gaped up at the hanyou. "So those are dog ears? …Whoa! Are those fangs real?"

"Of course they're real!" Inuyasha snapped. He gave Kagome a look of utmost disbelief. "Everyone in your family's either selfish, spineless or psychotic, is that it?"

In lieu of a brilliant retort, Kagome stuck her tongue out. The gesture served only to remind Inuyasha that, wherever her bracelets were, she still wasn't wearing them. _Crap. Can't say anything, or it might remind the brat how he—_

"If they're real," Souta pressed, "how come you were chewing on Sis's face without making any big—"

"Hewasnotchewingonmyface," Kagome said cheerfully, through gritted teeth, in the space of a heartbeat—coincidentally, also the time it took to get her little brother in a friendly headlock and dig her knuckles into his skull in their time-honored fashion. "It's a long story, but he was _not_. Ha ha. Now…" She gave him one more noogie and released him, allowing him to regain some breath and not daring to look at anyone else. _I swear I'm gonna kill the little mutant for this… _"Now, seriously, how'd you get in? There's a barrier up around the castle that doesn't let humans in. It should've…well…not let you in."

"What barrier?" Souta seemed to process the question for the first time. With one last paw through his thoroughly mussed hair, he submitted to Kagome's attempts to smooth it and slumped back on his elbows. Only Inuyasha, who had become similarly occupied looking anywhere but at the bed, noticed Shippou watching the siblings intently. "I didn't see anything."

"We have means of detecting any attempts to pass through the wards, and I wouldn't have noticed your entry at all if I hadn't been out and seen you normally," Kikyou clarified. "I saw nothing nearby that could have harmed you—in fact, it could have been my presence you felt." Souta relaxed noticeably at that. Kagome had a feeling Kikyou didn't believe it any more than she did, but silently thanked her again anyway for putting Souta at ease. "Was there any difficulty in getting here? Did you feel any resistance in the air, for example?"

"Nope. I just found my favorite tree and went from there. Dad already told us where the castle was before. I wandered around for a while, and there it was." He looked around appreciatively. "So this place actually has magic around it, huh? That's probably why no one could get in." He paused long enough to yawn. "But, then, how'd Dad find it? How long's the magic thing been up?"

"Isn't their shrine within the barrier, Kikyou-sama?" Sango asked for the first time, frowning slightly. "Kirara was able to bring me there to retrieve some things, and it didn't feel as if we had passed through a ward."

"The human ward's always been weird there," Inuyasha interjected. "Shifts around for no reason sometimes. I think it moved away from the shrine a couple days after the curse kicked in."

"For no reason?" The ominous edge was back in Kikyou's voice. "Have you noticed any kind of pattern in the changes?"

Inuyasha shrugged, dropping back into his favored cross-legged position on the floor. "Didn't notice any." He made an uncomfortable face. "Then again, didn't notice her family was there till the idiot came in and started puking on the bushes a little while ago, either."

Kagome was readying a comeback when Inuyasha's head shot up. "Wait! That's right, I noticed they were here before that, 'cause something woke me up, and when I went to go look at the Tree, it…felt weird. Hard to describe."

They waited for more, but Inuyasha merely glanced around, ears dipping back in annoyance. "What?"

Kagome scratched at her scalp, but the tight, unnatural itch didn't go away. "The first time I touched the Tree, it gave me a _really _weird vibe. That was when we were first settling into the shrine—did you see any of us that day? I remember, I was doing laundry and spilled the soap everywhere."

"How the hell'm I supposed to know? I didn't keep track of days when I was supposed to be sleeping, Kagome. I just slept." Try as he might, Inuyasha couldn't quite hide his disquiet: they cringed as he absently cracked his knuckles one-handed in an excellent imitation of his niece. "And I didn't go look or anything, just sensed someone was there. I didn't get a warning like I was s'posed to, so I figured it was some hermit or monk or something, one of those boring, preachy dicks the Jewel usually liked. Then I forgot about it till I started wandering around one day however long later and saw some guy turning himself inside out. I was bored, so I sent the runt to keep his ass from freezing."

Shippou opened his mouth to ask, then remembered how Kagome had explained the situation to him some time ago and shut it.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha still had the room's attention. He shifted uneasily, not sure what to do with it. "…That was all. You guys know the rest."

More silence. Inuyasha swallowed visibly under the weight of a few stares too many, particularly the female ones, edging away in each direction till it became apparent that nowhere was safe. "What? What'd I do this time?"

Kikyou sounded closer to open irritation than she had for quite some time now. "It never occurred to you that anyone coming inside the Jewel's area of influence without arousing its attention could be significant, much less an entire family living within it for several years?"

"Like I said, it was like they weren't there. I forgot about 'em most of the time."

"Exactly how long ago was this, Inuyasha?" Sango asked with exaggerated patience.

He shrugged again. "Feh. Hell if I know. Seems like I'd just got up from the last time we were all awake." His impatience faltered, then gave way to pensiveness. "Y'know, now that I think about it, we were supposed to stay asleep at least 200 more years after this."

"It had only been…" Sango faltered abruptly. She glanced cautious askance at the shadows, and continued after a tiny nod from Kikyou. "Seven years or so, I believe. That was the houshi-sama's estimate, at least…. Do you mean to tell us, Inuyasha, that you woke up – when was it that you moved there again, Kagome-chan? – _three years ago_ and didn't think to mention this when the curse began?"

"Three years? Holy shit." Inuyasha gazed at the ceiling distantly. "Doesn't seem like that long. Still doesn't explain why I couldn't go back to sleep…"

There was another moment of silence as they digested the notion. Kagome tried to imagine dozing for three years straight, and started to feel a little sleepy in the process. It also came to her that they were being permitted to talk about this a lot more freely than she'd thought they would be, and that she was getting too sleepy to think about it.

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder at Kikyou. "Didn't you know about it? I mean, weren't you in the Tree?"

"Yes, but my soul has occupied more than one vessel, as you know, and only one at a time," the priestess murmured, and all eyes cut over to Kagome, who tried to keep her indignation off her face. She had too much to deal with here already for hair-splitting over whether Kikyou meant to insult her every time she said something cryptic. _Good to know my entire purpose in life is to provide drama for Inuyasha and a place for _her _soul to stay for a while. Finders keepers, I say…_

Inuyasha found himself perilously close to growling in sympathy as anger muddied Kagome's scent, and shushed it, appalled. _Where the fuck are those stupid bracelets? _Technically, he knew That Smell could and often did make males act stupid, but it was one thing to know that intellectually, and another to realize he was ready to side with Kagome against Kikyou merely because she smelled exceedingly nice. _More crap to deal with. That's just great. Well, 'least the little bastard let us get that other shit out of the way before he butted in. _…There went his brain again on the interruption, and his feelings on the matter didn't even vaguely resemble gratitude: they were closer to frustration bordering on the homicidal.

This time, Kikyou and Sango both noted Shippou's uncertainty as the kit half-stood, gazed at the bed, and sat down in the slayer's lap again with a forlorn little sigh.

Oblivious to the mental turmoil surrounding him, Souta sat up and scratched his head. "Uh…I'm confused."

"That makes all except maybe one of us." Kagome drew her knees up to her chest. Her tank top and knee-length shorts were completely sweat-stained, and now that the adrenaline was finally starting to wear off, lack of sleep suddenly seemed drastically more severe a problem than little things like errant curses or grudges against dead predecessors. _Unless my fourth-grade art teacher wants to pop out from under the bed and announce that she's really my father, I can't see any other plot twists keeping me up much longer at this rate. _She yawned. _"Vessel." Gee golly whiz crap, don't I feel important. Anyway, time to wrap this up…_

Kagome sat up and spoke briskly. "The long and short is, the thing keeping the castle cursed likes our family or just ignores us for whatever reason, and it's not supposed to. The barriers don't stay around the shrine in a constant, unchanging state, the way they're supposed to. Inuyasha didn't stay cursed or go back to sleep for nearly as long as he was supposed to. There's a bad guy running around somewhere and screwing with us in various ways, maybe two, and they're definitely not supposed to. I stayed up all night angsting and sweating, and I wasn't supposed to. And you—" She poked her brother hard. "—came here by yourself while it was still dark, and you're gonna catch hell when you get home, and rightfully so. Till then, though, we need sleep." Kagome tousled his hair playfully. "After that, we can show you around and you can meet everyone else while we figure out what to do with you. Sound good?"

Souta blinked at her. "Could you run that by me again?"

Before she could attempt to kill him, the shoji opened with a gentle rustle. Miroku stepped in, raised an eyebrow at the small gathering, and blinked at Souta in surprise. Recovering quickly, he bowed to the room with a yawn of equal depth as Kohaku peered around him in more open curiosity. "Good morning, all. I haven't missed anything, have I?"

When the monk had been corrected at considerable length, more introductions made and Kagome's desire to go to bed _now _reiterated, the room was finally cleared. Kohaku and Sango promised to wake them at lunch, then left to confer with Miroku.

Kikyou said something to Inuyasha in an undertone; he nodded tersely and started to follow her from the room. He paused just long enough to look back at Kagome, who also paused in speaking to her brother to smile and nod at him.

Mind churning, Inuyasha nodded back shortly and took a step, very nearly tripping over Shippou as the kit hovered near the shoji. "What the hell…?" He plucked him off the ground by the tail, bringing him up to eye level; when this failed to elicit the usual complaints and protests, Inuyasha looked more carefully at Kagome and Souta, then Shippou's forlorn expression, and had a very rare attack of insight. _Stupid brat. _Inuyasha snorted, raising his voice carelessly. "Oi, Kagome."

"Huh?" Kagome glanced up and yelped, just barely catching the kitsune as he was tossed into her lap. "Inuyasha! Be more careful, you jerk!" She scooped Shippou up more carefully, settling him in her lap and favoring Inuyasha with a scowl. "Are you okay, Shippou-chan?"

"Uh huh." The tiny demon looked at her closely, almost fearfully, and she hastened to reassure him with a smile and a brief hug. Satisfied, he turned and made an elaborate face at Inuyasha, who cracked his knuckles again at him.

Kagome rubbed her forehead wearily. _Don't make me point out that Shimoko's rubbing off on you, Inu-kins… _"That's good. Let's get to sleep, then, before I pass out."

From his vantage point in Sango's futon, Souta glanced back and forth between his sister, the scowling half-breed, and the fox-footed little boy thumbing his nose from the safety of the bed. He was definitely missing something here, though he did _not _miss the way Inuyasha eyed his sister as Shippou obediently curled up and Kagome dropped her scowl, smiling gratefully at him instead and nodding to indicate he could leave now.

That part kind of made sense to Souta, though, as he recalled how he'd found them about an hour ago. He was only eleven, but one didn't live with two older brothers _and _Akemi his whole life without picking some things up, after all.

"I didn't even think about Shippou-chan," Kagome whispered a moment later over the kit's snoring, almost to herself. She sighed, draping her arm across her eyes in obvious chagrin. "I owe Inuyasha one for that."

"What was wrong with him?" Souta wanted to know, smothering a yawn. It almost seemed like a waste to sleep with all these weird new people and actual demons around, but he was suddenly exhausted.

"Slight case of jealousy, I think. I've been spoiling him like crazy, and he didn't know what to think of you. Funny, Inuyasha actually picked up on it…" She also yawned. "Trust him to fix it by acting like a jerk." _Why couldn't I have fallen for a sweet, sensitive guy who shows it by _not _being passive-aggressive?_

Souta yawned right back. "He seems weird. If he's half demon and he has all those claws and everything, why do you get to boss him around like that?" It was almost disappointing, after the way their dad had described Inuyasha: any monster that not only didn't eat people but got verbally assaulted by girls, let them take naps and extinguished the torch on his way out was clearly not a monster, no matter how cool he looked.

"Because he's a really nice guy, once you dig past all the defense mechanisms and big teeth and cussing." Kagome chuckled evilly. "It helps to know his weaknesses, too." _I completely forgot that he's ticklish, for example. Hmmmmm…_

The conversation almost ended there. Something else struck Souta just as he was starting to drift off, unfortunately: "Isn't Inuyasha the one you're supposed to marry?"

Kagome's leg jerked under the light sheet, mind rousing itself instantly. "How did…oh. The cell phone, right?" She could probably blame Kouga for that. The wolf demon was the only one with access to her father's cell phone who knew everything _and_ would bother to tell Yoshio, unless, say, Shimoko was going behind her back. Kagome had only given her father the most basic outline of her being alive, when the curse was likely to end, what not to do in the meantime, etc., and no little details like marriage or potential mass slaughter.

"Yeah, Dad said he talked to your fiancé for a while, and he was really happy," Souta said absently, unaware that Kagome's eyes had opened and were now approximately the size of CDs. "He forgot the guy's name, but he said that he sounded rich and he was gonna make the beast leave you alone."

"Well, it's…kinda complicated, but I'm not marrying anyone." Kagome fiddled with the sheet as her ears took their time passing information along to her brain, which slowly but surely grasped the terms _fiancé _and _beast_ as separate concepts and, also slowly but no less surely, began to implode.

Souta was only human, and so it wasn't his fault that the sound of Kagome's blood pressure skyrocketing evaded his notice as he continued thoughtfully. "But if he said that about the beast, he probably meant Inuyasha, right? So the fiancé wasn't Inuyasha. But who else would be able to callDad on a cell? It's not like anyone here has their own magic phone. And it's not like anyone here is delusional enough to say he's your fiancé when he's not, right?"

He sealed his eardrums' fates with an even more thoughtful pause. "…I still don't get it. If you're not marrying Inuyasha, but he's the one you were making out with, then who—"

_"KOUGA!"_

* * *

Inuyasha nodded slowly, eyes drifting away from Kikyou's. "I'll be damned. I didn't think I could actually do it." There was no relief in knowing that his plan had ceased to be a desperate hope and was now a certainty, guaranteeing the lives of everyone in the castle in exchange for his. _At least Kagome won't be in any danger… _That did ease the knot in his stomach, he found, so long as he didn't think about several other factors involving Kagome.

"You may, once all your business here has been concluded." The priestess leaned in ever so slightly. A slender sunbeam opened on the floor as the sun edged from around the heavy clouds outside, highlighting her translucent hand. "Though, in all honesty, you may wish to reconsider."

"Reconsider?" That one caught him completely off guard, just when he thought he'd at least had something clearly defined. "As in…?"

Kikyou didn't move, but the air seemed to cool, and the shorter hairs on the back of his neck bristled at the force behind her words. "In light of certain events, particularly the past two nights and this morning, I thought perhaps you would be reluctant to…that is, sometimes, Inuyasha, the most noble path is not necessarily the wisest, not when a more simple answer has been within reach the whole time."

His heart rose into his throat. Was she suggesting he—

"You seem speechless." As always, whenever Kikyou pointed out the obvious, it sounded more meaningful than stupid. He usually failed to get the point, but – whether from the emotional overload he'd experienced lately or just through lucky guessing – he could detect quite a few implications this time. "As well you should be. Tell me, have you ever seriously considered what possibilities might arise should Kagome accept you?"

Inuyasha surreptitiously jabbed the heels of his hands with his claws to make sure he was really awake. "I…"

_"KOUGA!"_

Kagome's bellow hurt his ears from three floors and more than half the castle's breadth away. Kikyou wisely made no attempt to continue their discussion, electing to vacate the room while Inuyasha staggered to his feet, head ringing. When the echoes died away, he waited all of three seconds to calm down before willing himself down to the source of the noise, hoping fervently that it wouldn't be repeated just as he arrived.

His wish was granted, and then some. When he stomped into her room, he found Shippou curled up on the bed, clasping his own pointed ears, and Souta on the floor, looking bewildered. A cloud of pure rage burning his nostrils was the only trace of Kagome's presence left, though it was fresh within the minute.

"All I did was tell her about the guy who told Dad he was her fiancé," Souta said meekly.

Inuyasha tried to tone down his glare. The kid smelled faintly of fear, but it was already fading into sheepishness, which suggested it was of _her_ and not the hanyou. "What—oh, you mean Kouga?" Despite himself, Inuyasha snorted, and some of his irritation faded in malicious amusement as the pieces fell into place. "And now _she _knows about it, eh?"

To their surprise, Inuyasha turned on his heel and slammed the shoji open. "C'mon, you two. It's about time she found out about it, and hell if I'm gonna miss this!" He nodded impatiently at a cleaning woman. "You. Guess what I'm about to ask?"

"She went that way, Inuyasha-sama." Though the servants who stood nearby were nearly dying of curiosity, they kept their mouths shut as Inuyasha swept past them towards the main entrance, smirking savagely. But when Souta emerged after the kitsune and ran with him down the hall, it was just too much: the women literally dropped what they were doing and scattered to seek out whoever came to mind and tell her the news. Word of Inuyasha-sama's indiscretion this morning – overheard by a maid coming back from the privy – had barely been spread to half the castle as it was, and there was a great deal of catching up to do already.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kagome, mental powers restored 110 percent by sheer temper, managed to unconsciously do several things she wouldn't have normally even considered to be within her ability: as she stalked through the halls, her mind ranged outward, seeking the wolf lord within the castle, and located the familiar prickle approaching the main steps. She made a few swift turns, deftly avoided curious servants in her way, put on a burst of speed, and almost walked straight into the closed doors. A muttered curse about the door's parentage and intelligence, and she was outside, too incensed to even think of her shoes or state of dress. _If he does not have a bloody _perfect _explanation, I'm going to tell Inuyasha…no, I'll tell _Sesshoumaru _that Kouga said their father was just a big, fluffy bunny demon in disguise, and watch him tear him three new ones!_

Kouga stopped what he was doing at the bottom of the steps, eyebrows raised appreciatively as Kagome darted into sight, vaulted onto the rail, and nearly flew down to meet him, hopping off and all but withering grass under her bare feet. The wind was at his back, and the wolf was so pleased with himself that the flames crackling around her aura didn't even register. "Good morning, dearest Kagome. You're up early."

There was no reply, unless one could count seething as an answer, but Kouga was too busy bowing, smiling, and enjoying the half-dressed sight of her to feel the daggers her eyes were launching directly at his skull. "I was just about to send for you—Ginta finally delivered that thing you wanted."

Kagome did not care what Ginta had delivered, and began gathering the appropriate swear words in the proper order to tell him so, not to mention considerable reserves of oxygen—and he stepped aside with a flourish the moment her mouth opened. "Here it is! Whaddya think?"

"What do I _think_? I think…it's…a bike! You…got me a…stupid…bike!" This was awkward: her anger hadn't gone anywhere, but excitement at seeing a shiny, gleaming ten-speed right behind him promptly popped up, and as much as she'd just wanted to hit him, Kagome would've liked to squeal and thank him. Then she wanted to hit him again. _Then_ she wanted to hit him as she thanked him, and her mouth couldn't quite work around the conflict. "It's…so…I can't _believe _you…but…!"

"Ah, well, you know…" Kouga made a display of proper humility, rubbing the back of his neck and shrugging with a half-grin. "It's not much, but I hope you like it."

Inuyasha emerged to a much different scene than what he'd gleefully envisioned. Instead of dismembering Kouga, Kagome appeared to be thanking him and examining a bizarrely shaped metal object as the wolf tried to act modest and ogled her while her back was turned. _What the fuck does she look so happy about? _If her eyes were twitching at odd intervals and she went from smiling to gritting her teeth every few words, neither male noticed as Inuyasha deliberately began to make his way down.

Kagome mastered her enthusiasm for the unexpected present, summoning all her ire as Kouga drifted a little too close. "Now, look, Kouga-kun, I need to talk to you, and I'm serious. My brother just came here, and he says you told my dad—"

"Ah, not now, Kagome. I promised Ginta and Hakkaku I'd get right back to 'em. I'll see you later, though." He patted her cheek genially and was gone in a small cloud of dust before she could blink.

Souta missed most of the exchange, and it was with great bewilderment that he and Shippou came out to witness the end of a fairly intense intellectual exchange between Kagome and Inuyasha, the main thrust of which seemed to be which of them was the bigger idiot.

"Did you think I wouldn't want to know about this before? Why didn't you tell me? I kind of thought you were on _my _side here!"

"What the hell are you bitching at me for? I'm not gonna run and tattle every time he does something stupid—"

"Lemme guess," Souta muttered around a yawn. "Is this a regular—"

"Uh huh," Shippou said flatly.

"And if it pissed you off so much, why'd _he _get off so easy? You came all the way out here almost naked just to stare at that weird metal—what the hell is it, anyway?"

"It's a bike, and I'm not…almost…shit." Kagome belatedly gave herself a once-over and realized he not only had a point, but she smelled like a locker room. Her wrists were still conspicuously bare, too, though that lack of covering rather paled next to the dearth of fabric over the rest of her. It was one thing to be minimally dressed in her own bed, in the dark, and another to be standing around outside and have Inuyasha point it out with his usual tact. _Not like most of the sweat stains weren't his fault, either…_

Great. There went her face, and his, too, after a few seconds. _Now that we've gotten our yearly recommended dose of Awkward out of the way… _"Forget it. I'm going to sleep now." Kagome willed the last shreds of her dignity back into place and turned on her bare heel, accidentally stepping on a squishy bug in the process. "At least Souta won't—"

"Hey, Sis, where you going?" Almost right on cue, her brother came whooshing down the rail, landing rather decently in that he didn't break anything. "Who was that guy? And where'd the bike come from? …Say, now we're all here, can I get that tour you were talking about? I'm not tired any more. Please?"

Being younger but wiser, Shippou waited for the sounds of inarticulate snarling and the occasional hair-whitening obscenity to die out, and for Kagome to stomp up the stairs and slam her way back inside, and only then came down to speak very matter-of-factly. "You guys look freaked out. So, how about that tour?" He wasn't too thrilled about it himself, but it would be a good idea to keep these two away from her for a while…and not just for Kagome's sake, to judge from their expressions, which were somewhere between stomach-cramp discomfort and the feelings associated with watching someone poke you in the eye.

* * *

Luckily for all concerned, Kagome did have a long, refreshing nap despite the muggy warmth of her room and less-than-fresh sheets. She half-woke just before noon and dozed for a while, fuzzily contemplating Souta's presence, the resolution of her fight with Inuyasha, and the fact that, acting on the assumption that Inuyasha did not in fact think she was icky – bolstered somewhat by recalling his much-less-than-hesitant response – all her mind really felt like doing was replaying that kiss they'd started for a second there. All that mattered was that, in the world of Not Awake, her mind could and did run free, ignoring its own little voices about _Kikyou_ and _heat of the moment_ and _whether_ _other girls ever notice that a guy's breath technically doesn't really smell all that great and still want to make out anyway, _or _how I get his fangs to stop jabbing me, even if I don't actually dislike that in a weird kind of way._

…Along that line of rambling thought, where were her bracelets? Her ego deflated a little as it came to her that her hormones had probably already laid out the welcome mat. No wonder he'd been so willing to make up that way…aside from the obvious buildup of guilt, horror and relief that had made him seek her out in the first place, of course. _Eh. I'm not a sex goddess, but I rarely get mistaken for barnyard animals, either. Comme ci, comme ca. No point stressing over what I can't change without about 3 million yen and five plastic surgeons._

Empowered by reaffirmation of her mediocrity, Kagome clipped on the choker and went about the business of digging through her sheets, pillows and under the bed in search of the bracelets. Nothing came up topside, but next to the sticky mess of sake near one bedpost, she did locate one silver band and her CD player.

"Nuts. No wonder it smells like a hotel in here…" The Discman reminded her of the song she'd had on Repeat for most of her gloom-time yesterday morning. Kagome set the anklet on the bed and shucked off her sweaty clothes, humming under her breath as she hesitated, then shrugged and got into new ones. She'd be better off saving a bath for nighttime, when she was less likely to have to take another immediately. _Gotta get the covers washed, too. Poor Shippou can't enjoy having to share a sleeping spot with someone who wets the bed. _The childish pun – better in English, a bit of a stretch in her mother tongue – amused her sleep-dulled mind just enough to distract it from the bracelets as she got up, chuckling at a random line: "I am drowning, help me to breathe…" _Maybe I've been reading too much into the lyrics all these years, and whoever wrote it just didn't have A/C in their apartment._

Speaking of reading too much into things, it was time to find the boys. Now that she wasn't angry anymore, Kagome could vaguely remember doing something earlier that helped her find Kouga by "feeling" his youki; considering Inuyasha also had a bit of demon energy, she mused, maybe she could find him the same way. All she had to do was…uh…

_Crap. _She had no clue what she'd done. With a long-suffering sigh at herself, Kagome wound her fingertips in her long, sleeveless mint blouse's loose hem and forced her mind to behave. Assuming her lack of headache equated no Inuyasha in the vicinity, they were probably doing something outside still, which meant she just had to ignore a twinge of nostalgia, form the pool in her mind of, say, the outer courtyard, and…get nothing.

_Nuts. _Nostalgia was soon followed by irritation as Kagome tried different places in quick succession, unsuccessfully, and began to remember why she'd fallen out of the habit of doing this, aside from the fact that spending more time with Inuyasha had made it unnecessary for quite some time now. _It'd be more practical to ask Shimoko to set up a spy satellite……what the…?_

She had just tried the servants' quarters, but using the viewpoint from when she'd held the baby in the shade and had her back to the huts, facing the castle, had produced something downright startling. From a distance, she could see that Inuyasha, her brother, and the kitsune were near the side of the very back of the main building, looking at something in the hanyou's hands…but instead of the creepy empty space she remembered so clearly from real life, Kagome now saw them crouching in front of several tall bushes of some sort. The picture wavered as her resolve did, and she tried to hang on long enough to see why the purple blobs on the dark green looked so familiar—to no avail, as the vision abruptly flung itself out into nothingness and Kagome dropped to her knees with a yelp of surprised pain.

"Kagome-chan?"

"I got kicked out by my own powers," Kagome complained as Sango slid the shoji open.

The slayer blinked at her. "I was going to say, 'You're awake already,' but now I'm not quite so sure."

"Awake enough." Kagome exchanged smiles and bows with Miroku as he appeared behind Sango. "Morning, I think. Is lunch almost ready?"

"Soon enough, Kagome-sama. In the meantime, we—"

"Need to find Souta and drag his butt back in here. He's gotta be pooped by now, and he needs to eat." Spurred by a dose of nap-made energy, Kagome started to move past them.

Miroku's slight cough, the equivalent of a shout from another person, brought her back worriedly. "What? Did Inuyasha eat him and set up some kind of dummy to trick me? The servants think he's evil? What?"

"Ah…not quite, Kagome-chan. The servants seem to…well, to be blunt, they're more concerned with what his being here has to do with you," Sango said uneasily.

"Ahhhh. I…don't see." Kagome held up a hand as her friends exchanged uncomfortable glances. "Okay, okay. Let's go get the others in here, and you can tell me about it then. Come on."

"That may not be the wisest—"

Too late; she was already out in the hallway.

"She'll find out soon enough," the monk observed pragmatically, and was rewarded with an unpleasant look as they hurried after her.

He hadn't counted on how distracted Kagome was, though; they successfully reached a back exit, crossed several smaller courtyards and spotted Inuyasha et al without her noticing the difference in the maids' usual discreet glances and whispering. "Hey. What're you guys up to?"

Almost before the words had left her mouth, Inuyasha was up and backing away from her as something fell from his hands. "Where the fuck are your brace-things?"

"Oh. My bracelets? I couldn't find most of 'em." Kagome was too busy scanning the area to pay as much heed to the question as she probably should've. _Where did the bushes go? _There was only hard-packed dirt around them, no indication of any shrubbery or flowers…but as she stared, that creepy feeling rose to meet her again, and her feet backed away without consulting her brain. "Let's go inside now."

"Hold on, Kagome!" As the only one not thrown off by her appearance, it was Shippou who stopped her long enough to run back and scoop up the thing Inuyasha had dropped, leaping nimbly onto her shoulder and dropping it into her hands proudly. "It's you! See?"

Already moving again, Kagome glanced down and started. "Wha—how…?"

"Inuyasha said your dad dropped 'em when he was first here." The kit beamed, gratified by her stunned silence as she slowed and allowed Sango and Miroku to see the long row of old photos in their plastic sleeves. Her fingers unconsciously bracketed one of her when she was perhaps five years old, chocolate smeared on her face and dripping from her hair, and her mother smiling in exasperation at the camera as the little girl generously held out a sticky hand. _I remember that. I asked her if she wanted to lick my hands off the way I licked the bowl when she was done baking. Ewwww. _

"Hey, Sis…" Souta had quickly recovered from the shock of seeing his sister brush off Inuyasha's rudeness – she usually offered at least token resistance to Akemi and Nabiki, after all – and now came forward to tug at her shirt's hem. "You should've been here. He told us all this cool stuff, like how there's no outer wall 'cause his dad said they didn't need one, and the castle's not that big 'cause he didn't want one in the first place and it's easier to defend that way, plus there used to be rice fields out there and over there—"

Inuyasha trailed behind them, lost in thought. He wasn't bothered by the kid's rambling; what was more disturbing was the fact that, though answering thousands of pointless questions had helped to put Kikyou's words out of his head, her possible meaning had doubled back and ambushed him the moment he spotted the pictures on the ground.

Common sense had advised he leave the things there, since neither of the brats had noticed, but his curiosity had gotten the best of him as he spotted what had to have been Kagome's face in the jumble of faded images, forcing him to stroll over and pick them up, then listen to Souta as he recognized his family and immediately began to point everyone out. The presentation had felt almost voyeuristic to Inuyasha, not to mention unnatural, considering the baby in its mother's arms was now a half-grown boy sitting beside him, the pleasantly smiling mother had been dead for seven years, the snot-faced little girl was a woman ready to have children of her own…yet there they were, unaging, locked into reality by the strange, colorless protection of the "plastic" sleeves.

"_A more simple answer has been within reach this whole time."_

If she hadn't come right out and asked him about what might happen if Kagome accepted him, Inuyasha would have been able to convince himself she'd meant something else. Now…

Now he understood why his father had once remarked in his hearing that women were a greater threat to men's peace of mind than false friends, war, or impotence, all together.

Inuyasha had finally ironed out the last details of his plan, ensuring that he would be able to eliminate himself without repercussion to the rest of the castle – once the kugutsu had been found and destroyed, of course – and restored some tiny measure of control over the situation; if Kikyou had ever wanted to throw him off by insinuating that he should try considering his nightly question as more than an embarrassing ritual, she had always had plenty of opportunity to do so. Why urge him to think of marrying Kagome _now, _right as they'd made up and his mind was too busy connecting her unguarded scent and the talk of family and the distinct probability of her making a good mother to shut itself up as usual?

There was really only one thing to blame for it: his nose. Inuyasha had never had a problem ignoring his instincts when Kikyou was alive, largely because _she _had always been careful to dose herself in plenty of time and no other woman's smell had even remotely interested him. True, his eyes misbehaved once in a while…not to mention his hands, more rarely, and his arms, and he wouldn't even think of his mouth, but at least they never—

"Oh!" Kagome's gasp brought him out of his haze of confused resentment and into the present, where she had dropped to her knees and was holding a hand out to her huge cat. "Buyo, what did you do?"

The calico gave a noncommittal meow and shifted his bulk around, freeing a smaller form trapped under his front paws. Inuyasha's first thought echoed hers, that he'd caught one of the kittens and killed it—till a little head poked up from almost underneath the folds of splotched fat, and another, and the first kitten mewed sleepily.

"I suppose he's better than nothing," Sango remarked as Buyo yawned, grumpily climbing to his feet and displacing a fourth kitten. The calico toddled out of his way, nearly tripping him as he tried to take a step and found himself flanked by the tabbies.

Partly to give the older cat some relief, and partly because Kagome immediately scooped the calico up and refused to set her down, they returned to the room with much lighter spirits and four bundles of fur, one in each human's hands. Souta nearly dropped the tortoiseshell as he halted on the threshold, observing the room in full light for the first time. "So that's what happened to our stuff!" He gaped at the metal pads. "How come I didn't see those before?"

"Maybe because it was _dark _before and you were freaked out?" Kagome seated herself on the bed and set the calico on her lap, beckoning Sango and Miroku to do the same with the tabbies. Souta put the last on the bed and made a beeline for the PlayStation. "Nuh-uh, not yet. You can play it later if you want, but not with these guys right here. It's too loud." She stroked the calico briefly and began to re-herd them back onto her lap.

"What about me?" Inuyasha seated himself as far from her as the room would permit, not expecting an answer and too conscious of her to care. "Hurry up and do something about the smell."

Kagome unhooked tiny claws from her blouse for the fifteenth time, instantly aware of his meaning. "Souta, do me a favor and find my bracelets. Two gold and two silver ones. They're around here somewhere."

"I'm not your slave," he retorted, though Sango was secretly amused to see that, like Inuyasha had earlier, he obliged promptly. "You've got a lot of junk under here…I see a gold one…" A toss, and Kagome managed to catch it on her foot by sheer luck. Miroku and Shippou made a show of elaborate respect, and she bowed as well as she could around an ongoing kitten roundup. "Whoa! Where'd you get this, Sis?" Souta emerged with a plastic bag, digging through it frantically. "Did Inuyasha make this, too?"

"No, his niece bought it for us. Even if he knew how, why would Inuyasha waste his time making manga?" Kagome leaned over as Souta began to empty the bag, which she had only had time to glance through. "Most of it's for me, but I asked her to get you Hagaren and that stupid ninja one."

"Hey, don't call Naruto stupid!" Souta threw aside the One Piece, Furuba and anthology magazines, sitting back to gaze raptly at the cover in his hands. "Wow, I don't even recognize this guy. You think the niece lady could get all the ones I missed?"

"That manga goes through characters like tissues, remember? Except Kleenex is more fun to read about," Kagome said absently, persuading the calico and orange tabby to stop attempting escape. She really had nothing against her brother's favorite series, but because it was his favorite, she was obligated to tease him about it, the same way he mocked her for drooling over boys prettier than she was who technically did not exist.

"Smell," Inuyasha mumbled pointedly from the corner.

Kagome sighed and set the kittens on her pillow. "Right, right. Slave…I mean, Souta—"

Kohaku soon arrived with a huge lunch; the room wasn't too badly crowded, particularly with Inuyasha sitting so far out of the way, even when Kagome insisted upon keeping the kittens with them. Neither of the missing bracelets had turned up, and he was getting grumpier and grumpier the longer he had to sit there and smell and not look at her.

"Why don't you go make a surprise inspection of the kitchens, Inuyasha?" Miroku finally suggested, polite as ever but with an acidic edge. "If they've truly been using the rice barrels as privies, as you keep suggesting, perhaps you should look into it."

"Keh." Glad for the excuse, Inuyasha rose and folded his arms. "Good idea. Too many people in here anyway. I'm goin' out for some air."

"Take these guys with you," Kagome said on impulse, carefully gathering all four snoozing fluffballs in her lap and lifting the corners to make a loose basket. They moved aside to let her pass as she stood, moved to the shoji, and turned to lift an eyebrow at Inuyasha. "On second thought, I'd better do it."

What happened next would always remain lodged in Inuyasha's memory, in the unique and curiously relentless way humiliation is etched into the brain for the rest of one's life: in a moment of weakness, as he scowled back at her, it came to him that she looked rather cute, almost ridiculously so, with the kittens, her arch expression, scent and all. And it came to him that the way she delicately nudged the shoji open with her foot forced her to twist in such a manner as to emphasize the mass against her stomach, making her look for a moment as if she had either put on far too much weight or been knocked up. He snorted very quietly. _Cute. Right._

She chose that exact moment to glance at him again and smile.

Without asking him for permission, Inuyasha's body drew several unfounded conclusions responded in a swift, decisive, and horribly unmistakable manner. Mercifully, she had already turned to ease herself and her suggestive burden through the shoji, and he couldn't be sure if she'd noticed or not.

A few seconds, frozen, and he allowed himself to slip out, expression betraying nothing till he had closed the shoji. Then he transported himself outside, found the nearest post with no servants nearby, and very calmly began beating his head on it.

Back in the room, silence reigned briefly. Souta spoke: "So, Sis, and Inuyasha…are they…?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Are they what?"

Souta blinked at Miroku, Sango, and Shippou in turn, glancing at Kohaku for good measure and receiving a blank stare. "Well, I—"

Kagome's return shut him up effectively. She sat down gracefully, fanning herself, ignoring them all. "So, Souta, you want to go back now, or should we wait till tomorrow?"

"Go back?" he protested. "Why?"

"One, so Dad doesn't think you got eaten…"

"Kouga has a talking thingy he could use to tell him, doesn't he?" Shippou asked.

Twitch. "Two, there's no room…"

"Actually, Kagome-sama, the castle was designed to accommodate four times more people in the servants' quarters alone than our current capacity."

"…Three, the curse might get weirded out, if it hasn't already…"

"But it let him in with no trouble, Kagome-chan, and Kikyou-sama didn't say he needed to be removed, did she?"

"And _four_, there's nothing for you to do here for another four weeks. You're gonna be bored spitless."

"He hasn't seen the river yet," Shippou volunteered. "Or the treehouse, or the treasure or war rooms, or DDR, or—"

"Five! It's not friggin' safe here, okay?" Kagome addressed Souta directly. "Something's been trying to either kill or screw with us for a while now, and it might go after you, too. You even said something was following you this morning, right?"

"If it wanted to kill me, it coulda done it then," the boy said reasonably. "'Sides, Inuyasha's kinda weird, but not bad weird. If I have to pick between him and Dad watching out for me, I'll go with the guy with the big teeth."

Kagome let herself flop back on the bed dramatically. "Fine. You can stay till tomorrow. But then we're gonna call Dad and tell him, all right?" Souta cheered, as did Shippou, and Kagome sighed at the knowledge that, provided as he was with new people, his sister and fresh Naruto, he was likely not going back home till she did. _Can't say I blame him. Still, it's one more thing to worry about. …I wonder if that was just my imagination…? _She squeezed her eyes shut. _Ugh. Time to surround myself with more _reliably_ weird guys. _"Pass me some Furuba, would you?"

* * *

"If you want to destroy the castle so much, you could always take a good look at the things on the ends of your hands, oji-chan."

"Shut up," Inuyasha snapped without looking behind him, forehead still resting against the post. Trust Shimoko to come back early and uninvited and _now_. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were gonna do that test thing first."

"Yes, but to be frank, I'm bored." The flippancy dropped from her tone. "You're lucky I did. It was pure luck I found these before a servant did and began asking embarrassing questions."

Inuyasha turned and started. "What the…?" Shimoko was holding up the missing gold bracelet in her left hand, the silver in the right. "What the hell are you doing! She needs those, dammit!"

"I'll pretend you didn't insinuate that I'd have any reason to steal them after I not only _gave _them to her, but paid two years' salary to have them ready in time for her next cycle," she said tightly, and he ducked his head. "They were sitting near the main stairs, actually. Someone had placed them atop each other and written something in the dirt. You could go see, or I could just tell you, or ask whether the word 'unnecessary' has any significance."

"'Unnecessary'? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Mindful that she was still angry, Inuyasha took the bracelets back with some semblance of humility, scowling at them as though they might know. "Thanks anyway."

"It was nothing." Shimoko bowed shortly. "I must be going, but my real reason for coming was purely philanthropic."

Inuyasha didn't like the sound of that. "…Yeah?"

"Yep. As soon as I'm done discussing the test results with Shiro, I'd like to have a little get-together here. Some sake, a couple of modern foods, maybe some music, just to cheer you up because I love you so much, oji-chan." She smiled blandly.

Inuyasha really didn't like the sound of that. "What'd I do?"

"You reminded me that I have maybe thirty days now in which to torture you before you either die or become free to try to escape me. Not that you'll be able to, but one thing at a time, I always say." She cracked her knuckles. "I'm fairly serious. You have no idea how long it's been since I've found fresh meat for karaoke, and being near-immortal gets _really _boring sometimes—and I'm not even two hundred."

"Karaoke?" he repeated suspiciously.

"You'll find out soon enough, oji-chan." The usual turn and saunter off…was she leaving? Inuyasha tried not to get his hopes up. Sure enough, Shimoko paused and gazed at him critically. "In the meantime, I can see you won't be needing any of that medication I was thinking of. I'd recommend a good course of ice water instead. I'm sure Kagome is relieved to know you're happy to see her, but—"

He hurled the bracelets at her head, but she was gone too fast.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter I'm cutting short because it's too damn long otherwise, and because I said so. For the record, Furuba is the popular Japanese shortening of the lovely shoujo series "Fruits Basket," whilst "Hagaren" is short for "Hagane no Renkinjutsushi"…if you don't know that one, I might give in and say so next time, which will be only three or four days at most, considering a good chunk of it's already written. (Assuming anyone cares. I'm just slightly bored and sleep-deprived.) Don't worry, this is all going somewhere, I promise… 


	36. Two Down, One to Go

Disclaimer: Ow. I just whacked my knee and it hurts. And that, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is why I don't own Inuyasha. By the power vested in me by possession of a keyboard, I says keep reading. (And none of the other copyrighted material I mention is mine, either. Desu.)

A/N: Look, Ma! Another chapter! Wheeeeee! Ah, sleep, I miss thee so…

Go to the bathroom and get some snacks from the lobby, 'cause this is the longest one thus far. More on that waaaay at the end.

* * *

Beast 

**Chapter 36 **

The rest of the day passed as quietly as it probably could have, given the circumstances. When Shippou began displaying distinct symptoms of boredom, Kagome regretfully set her manga aside and prodded Souta into doing the same so they could play cards instead; when Inuyasha slipped back in almost two hours later, he was greeted with no indication that anyone had noticed anything untoward in his exit, and showed his gratitude by also pretending nothing had happened.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was consumed by a fast-paced and confusing set of games, in only one of which he participated, though he was such a poor liar that he lost in record time. In the excitement, Inuyasha forgot about Shimoko's visit entirely, and it was only when they were finishing dinner in the increasingly stuffy little room that he remembered to mention it.

Sango's censure of his neglect in mentioning it till now was swiftly allayed by Kagome's suggestion that the servants had probably caught wind of it and were no doubt already in the midst of preparing, accustomed as they were to not waiting for orders. This would have calmed Inuyasha had he not also recalled his niece's parting shot as he, Miroku and Kohaku prepared to leave for the night. If the servants knew she was coming back the next night, they also no doubt knew about _that_, and he asked Kagome the usual question and bade her goodnight with unpleasant possibilities teeming in the back of his mind.

Kagome was thinking along similar lines. When she and Sango retired to the bath, the latter remained quiet most of the time, and Kagome, failing to think of a way to bring the subject up with any delicacy – _"So! How 'bout those feudal Japanese clothes? Don't leave much to the imagination, do they?" doesn't have much of a ring to it…_ – played with Shippou instead of talking.

The deficit was more than made up when they returned to the room, though, and found Souta waiting for them, manga almost forgotten in his eagerness. "So you don't get out of here till you marry Inuyasha, Sis?"

Kagome sighed. She knew she'd regret letting him talk to Shippou earlier without her there… "It's a long story. The same stuff that keeps people out of the castle keeps everyone here inside till the curse gets broken."

"Oh. And that's how it happens?" Souta frowned. "How come you said no, then?"

"Because I'm not gonna marry him. Now go to bed. Shippou can show you where the other boys sleep, and you'll be safe with Kohaku." Kagome made a dismissive gesture. She'd pondered letting him sleep in her room, but Sango looked so weary that she didn't want to ask her to go elsewhere, even to Miroku. "Don't give me that look. I need to talk to—"

"But why not?" He crossed his arms, planting his butt firmly on the bed to indicate that he was going nowhere till he got a satisfactory answer. "You guys already fight like a married couple."

"We do _not_." This had the makings of a very long and painful argument. Kagome glanced at Sango, who was fanning herself slowly, and saw that the kit wasn't going to help, either—if anything, he looked just as curious as her brother. _Traitor. _"We'll talk about it later. Now go to bed."

"You do too. You give each other those weird looks, too." His frown deepened into a scowl. "What happens if you just don't feel like marrying him?" The scowl vanished, replaced instantly with keen interest. "Are you gonna stay here forever?"

"There's only a month left, and then…it ends," she replied evasively. "Now, seriously, shoo. I'll explain it all tomorrow."

Souta made a face. "No, you won't. You'll find somethin' else to talk about, like you're trying to now."

Kagome cursed herself: she'd trained him not to tolerate their older sisters' tendency to change the subject, and this was the thanks she got. "Souta, I'm really serious. It's not that easy. He—he's not really available, and even if he was, there are way too many other complications."

"If he's not available, how come he asked you to marry him? And how come you guys were sucking face, and then he was—"

"If you bring that up _one more time, **no one will ever find your corpse**_, brother dearest," Kagome said sweetly. "Good _night_."

Souta opened his mouth, then quailed at her Look, nodded, and scuttled out of the room without further argument.

"Temper, Kagome-chan," Sango murmured, covering a yawn with the back of her hand as Shippou also made a hasty retreat. "Didn't you work enough energy off at Kouga?"

Kagome looked at her blankly, then remembered and shook her head. "I never actually got to yell at him. He distracted me with something shiny first."

"Oh, the 'bike' thing you wanted so much?" Sango tilted her head slightly, then winced and massaged her temples. "From what I'd heard, you were quite angry at him. The girls I talked to thought you were going out there to kill him."

"I was. He told my dad he and I were engaged." She sighed patiently at Sango's sympathetic grimace. "Yeah. He just got lucky that he'd brought out that bike right then. I've wanted another one since we moved back to the shrine. We tried bringing my mom's old one in from the city, but it fell off somewhere along the way and got ruined, so getting another one was a huge thing for me." Life was funny, she mused: if the first hadn't been run over, she might have thought it safe to ask for a bike instead of a flower, and then what would've happened?

"I suppose that makes sense." The slayer seemed faintly amused, but Kagome could tell that she was too tired to be more than politely interested in the subject.

They went to bed almost as soon as the kitsune returned, and it wasn't till after her friend was asleep that Kagome realized she hadn't spent any nights with Miroku in…how long now? _She still seems weird, too, but not bad weird. …Eh. Probably just tired. I'll ask about it tomorrow if she's not better._

It was too bad, really. She would've liked to show Sango the pictures of her family before they fell asleep. _Ah, well, there's always tomorrow. Wonder what the pictures were doing there in the first place… _

Her eyes came open on their own in the darkness. The pictures were Yoshio's, obviously, but though they had launched one of the first great misunderstandings of this whole business, no one had ever indicated that they were still on the grounds somewhere. She hadn't thought of them at all till now.

Despite herself, Kagome snorted quietly, adjusting the loose gold bracelets she'd kept on even in bed. _If you'd have told me two months ago that Dad was going to come back with a flower for me and then make me come here and fall for a half-demon… _

Something clicked. _……Flower? _Wait a minute. Yoshio had gotten in trouble in the first place thanks to flowers. Kagome had seen a few miniature Zen rock or sand gardens around the grounds, but not much actual greenery; the castle was far more utilitarian than most human nobles would have preferred. Considering that, and that her father was not the sharpest tool in the shed, he couldn't have stumbled across any flower gardens by accident. Where had he found them, then?

Something else teased the outside edges of her memory, something about purple and a question she should've asked yesterday, something else out of the ordinary, even for this place…but, oddly, her mind shied away from the prospect. It wasn't that it scared her: it almost felt disrespectful to think about it, so much that she had no desire to even try. _Huh. Now _that's_ weird. _Nothing else she'd come across had felt quite like that. …Or had it?

_Feelings. Blah. Okay, Sango and gardens, two more problems for tomorrow. Joy. Right. Shutting up now. _Kagome put it firmly out of mind for now and rolled over, nearly squashing Shippou in her determination to escape her thoughts. _Time for sleep. Gotta think of something relaxing…hmmm… _

Inuyasha came to mind. The thoughts that tagged along after him were _not _relaxing, and it was a long time before exasperated weariness won out, pictures and flowers quite thoroughly forgotten already.

* * *

Morning arrived so clear, bright and gently sunny that Kagome could blame her premature waking on it, as Shippou patted her shoulder urgently and Souta nearly shouted into her ear: "Hey, Sis! Wake up! C'mon, let's do something!"

She mumbled a few choice words and stuffed the pillow back over her head, then yelped and grabbed at it vainly as its warm weight was gone. "Get your ass up and take the brats somewhere else," Inuyasha advised, cocking his head at the boys; Kohaku was standing by the door, less vocal but just as enthusiastic as the other two. "They've been bugging everyone since dawn." Souta nodded vigorous agreement, and Kagome rolled over, groaning.

Sango had also been evicted from sleep, but was in good spirits and only mildly annoyed when Miroku insisted upon helping Kohaku with breakfast so that he could have an excuse to observe the kitchen maids as they bent over the charcoal braziers upon which lunch was already cooking. To his dismay, Sango's improved standing with the other women meant that she was – very good-naturedly, with much glaring at Miroku and encouragement not to be lenient with him – informed of the incident almost immediately.

The monk's protests and denials lasted throughout the meal, after which Souta interrupted just loudly enough to ask Kagome if they could go see the river Shippou and Kohaku had told him about. His new friends vigorously seconded the motion; with no major objections from Miroku or the women, they were following the boys through the woods on the servants' path to the water in record time, almost before Inuyasha could finish formulating his arguments against the idea.

"One of 'em might drown," the hanyou pointed out as they emerged in time to see Souta step cautiously into the sparkling water, squeaking slightly at the icy touch on his hot, dirty feet. "The runt can't swim at all."

"That's what we're here for," Kagome replied, kicking off her sandals and trotting down to the bank to arrange them neatly along the water's edge. "Sango-chan, can you swim?"

"A little. We were taught enough not to drown if we were ever thrown or dragged in, and how to keep others afloat." The slayer, Kagome noticed with much relief, was back to herself this morning. _Weird feeling? …Check. Damn. _She'd have to ask later…when Miroku wasn't sneaking up behind Sango and eyeing her, then the water, and arching an eyebrow at Kagome so innocently that she had to look away before she accidentally betrayed his intentions.

"It's already quite warm out," the monk noted genially, shading his eyes with his left hand as he gazed at the cloudless stretch of blue overhead. "And the exercise would do you some good." He made as if to pinch her backside, raising his hands as she turned on him. "I could hold your clothes if you'd like to wade a bit."

Sango glared back at him, then shrugged, unable to spot diversionary tactics as Kagome instantly had. "Hmmm…I think I'll hold off till it gets warmer." With a last Look at the monk, the slayer raised her voice to her brother, who had just stepped out of most of his clothes and started to ease himself beneath the water. "Stay where we can see you, and don't go under too long."

"No corpse contests, Souta," Kagome added, explaining to her puzzled friends in an undertone, "We used to see who could stay under the longest, but that was when there were lifeguards around, people specifically trained to rescue anyone drowning."

"You're no fun," her brother complained, but, recognizing her slight emphasis on the second word, obediently paddled over to Kohaku and attempted to dunk the smaller boy by surprise, with mutually disastrous results.

The splashing soon drew a little too close to the bank, and Sango firmly suggested they restrain themselves, or go closer to the other side for that. They elected to float instead, Shippou eyeing them nervously from his vantage point on Kagome's shoulder.

"You know, he got used to this pretty quick," the latter mused, sitting on the bank to let her feet enjoy the surprising bite in the sun-drenched water. "Souta adjusted to the move and everything better than the rest of us, but if I were him, I'd still be freaked out, not playing around with another kid I didn't really know yet."

"Ah, youth…" Miroku chuckled, easing Sango closer to the river without her noticing. "It may be that he enjoys more security in a strange setting and strange people with you present, Kagome-sama, than his home and family with you missing—and I might add that the tendency towards random destruction is a perfectly normal part of young male bonding. Inuyasha and myself spent a great deal of our initial acquaintance trying to kill one another."

"I agree, houshi-sama, though I'd rather not have to remind Kohaku that his opponent isn't a demon, nor trained the way he is, and hardly a fair match." The boys began to drift towards each other, almost bumping heads till Kohaku noticed and veered away with a little flick towards Souta. "Perhaps we should bring some of the other children out here in small groups some time."

"Maybe. As long as Souta's here, he's gonna come back to the water, so we might as well let the others have some fun." _This is pretty fun, too. I feel like a mom, watching the kids horse around and talking to the other grownups…though I'd have to use the term loosely with these guys. _Kagome smiled at the thought. _Grownup or not, it's hot. Time to go in. _She pulled her hair back tightly, adjusted her long, dark T-shirt so as to maintain coverage over her old bikini – there was no way she was going to run around in just that thing – and dove right into the water without thinking.

The affable quiet died a violent death at her reaction to the cold, and then her retaliation to the boys' laughter. Mindful of the other "grownups" and the little fox demon's isolation, Kagome called a halt to impending Water War II to invite Shippou down with them, threatening the older boys with consequences worse than dire should they even think of splashing either of them while she held the kit above water.

Shippou's wariness diminished as it became evident they were probably not going to sink, then vanished; emboldened by her success, Kagome turned her attention to calling Inuyasha down. "Come on, the water's not gonna melt you. Unless you're scared, of course."

Her teasing proved fruitless; though he was repeatedly invited and exhorted by all below to come down and cool off – especially Miroku, who maneuvered the slayer just a little closer to the edge as they turned to address him – Inuyasha not-so-politely declined to leave his perch, much to Kagome's disappointment. She had to admit it was probably wise, though, given his aversion to wet in general and the quantity of water being thrown around already. _Kohaku's having more fun attacking Souta than he's probably had the whole time I've known him. Nothing like attempted homicide to make a boy happy, I s'pose, but I doubt Inuyasha'd get much of a kick out of it._

Sango was making fairly similar observations. Lulled into false security by a gentle hand on her shoulder and her brother's ebullience, she didn't think to question Miroku's proximity till they were suddenly much nearer the river than she'd thought. "…Houshi-sama?"

"Yes, Sango?" Three feet separated them and the slow-moving water, and Sango couldn't help noticing that he was leaning into her so that she was forced to move almost imperceptibly in that direction. She began to entertain some very strong suspicions, telling him as much in a glare fit to ignite most inflammable substances. He retaliated with a blinding smile. "Was there something bothering you?"

Kagome started to paddle away from where the slayer _or_ monk was likely to get dunked at this rate. Then she got a fairly interesting idea, motioned Shippou to be quiet and caught Inuyasha's eye, which had just so happened to be resting on her. She made a suggestion with a quick jerk of her head towards the feuding couple and a short but eloquent gesture.

"You're not thinking of doing anything rash, are you?" Sango's voice lowered almost to a growl as they stopped less than a pace from the lip of the bank. She intertwined their fingers tightly. "Especially considering _you're _going in the second I do?"

Miroku affected surprise, never suspecting that the four in the water were gaping at him for any other reason than to see if he'd call her bluff, or that Kirara had come out of the woods as well to watch Inuyasha pad silently down the slope towards them. "Why would I do such a thing?"

Kagome had the foresight to get to the bank and deposit Shippou as Inuyasha took advantage of Miroku's distraction to hover directly behind him, fill his lungs, and half-shout into the monk's ear: "'Cause you're an idiot!"

Miroku jumped like an overdosed cat, and Sango tried to whirl around; with fingers and arms entangled, all they managed was to topple off balance together, crashing into the river with a satisfying _fwoosh_ of water spattering water.

"You were supposed to _push _'em, Inuyasha," Kagome called out over the boys' cheers and applause in mock pique, though her grin was almost as wide as his smirk. "Extra style points for making him do it himself, though."

"Keh." Inuyasha made no attempt to restrain his smugness at having been a participant in a prank for once, rather than the object. _Damn, that was fun. No wonder they're always fucking with me! _He waved at the two dark heads that surfaced moments later. "So, bouzu, cooled off yet?"

Miroku spat water, clearing his mouth of an interesting expletive or three in the process as Sango steadied him from beneath. The slayer looked as put out as her lover, though Kagome got close enough in assisting them to the bank to detect some effort in maintaining it. "That was uncalled for, Inuyasha," Sango said severely, sweeping wet mahogany strands off her face with the arm not looped around the monk's neck and shoulders.

"Indeed." Miroku disentangled himself at the bank, climbed out of the water and surveyed his dripping robes with a wry frown. "I don't suppose you'd like to retrieve my sandals for me, Inuyasha."

"I'll get 'em, Miroku-sama," Kagome offered with the beginnings of pity. He'd been in no danger with Sango, Kirara and herself in attendance, but…

"No, no, Kagome-chan, he does have a point." Sango accepted the monk's help onto the bank, though they both nearly lost their footing in the process. Only Shippou and Kagome noticed her eye Miroku as avidly as he was appraising her sodden figure, and the moment passed almost instantly. "Inuyasha, would you care to assist the houshi-sama?"

"No, I wouldn't. Why?"

The boys' renewed laughter should have alerted Inuyasha, but with the wind at his back, attention as diverted as Miroku's had just been, and the taste of victory still fresh, he failed to interpret Sango's gesture till it was almost too late; Kirara lunged from behind, and when he managed to leap clear of being dunked, a deft twist of her heavy tails knocked him downward.

Kagome couldn't be sure, but she was at least reasonably certain she had never seen anything as funny as the way he landed, frozen sideways in a spider-like pose no human could so much as dream of, clinging to the bank with his right arm and leg while his left arm struggled to hold up the majority of his hair the way it had draped itself just out of the water. It didn't occur to her to precisely quantify the humor of it because breathing had suddenly taken priority, and doubling over while treading water proved difficult at best.

"Glad you're having fun," Inuyasha grumbled. He gingerly climbed back up, then stood, shaking his left leg in an unmistakably canine fashion where it had been submerged below the knee, doubling Kagome's merriment. Fortunately, though, a glare at Sango, a snarl at Kirara as she mewed sweetly from the other bank, and a sudden smirk at Miroku was the extent of his wrath. "You still got a hell of a lot wetter'n me."

"How kind of you to notice." Good humor restored by Inuyasha's near-disgrace and another thorough look at Sango, Miroku bowed courteously as Kohaku surfaced with the missing sandals. "Thank you, kind sir…" He slid them back on, grimacing. "Ugh. Nothing quite like the feeling of wet footwear."

"Shoulda thought of that before you went in," Inuyasha muttered, shaking his leg again. He glanced at the couple, wrinkling his nose and raising his voice above Kagome's half-suppressed giggling. "You guys can go back and use the baths first if you want. Just be back in Kagome's room later."

The exasperated insinuation completely escaped the boys, even if they did notice untoward speed in Miroku's assent and wonder that Kirara was called upon to take the two back instead of walking. Kagome didn't put the pieces together for quite some time, until her limbs started to tire and she left Shippou by the water to settle down with her back against Inuyasha's tree, bare legs drawn up to her chest. "Oh," she murmured, unaware of having spoken out loud. _They don't get much private time during the day, and this's as good an excuse as any. _

"What's that?" To her surprise, Inuyasha hopped down, crouching next to her. "You say somethin'?"

"Not really." To her gratified surprise, one of her concerns came to mind, and she decided to ask about it before she forgot yet again. "Does Sango seem…off to you somehow? Not in a bad way, just not the same."

"Depends what you mean by 'off.'" She flushed faintly. "Geez, wench, not like _that_, not why I let 'em go back early. They've been smelling like that all the time since they had that mushy talk, 'cept for her getting sick and…well, the past couple days."

"I don't blame them. Things haven't been that great lately." Kagome pressed the backs of her still-cold hands to her cheeks, which only burned more. "As long as she's not sick again or anything, it's probably just my imagination."

"Nah, if _you_ think something's up, she's probably dying or something. Everything's a pain in the ass when you're involved." He folded his arms and frowned as she toyed with the wet band around her neck. "Are you ever gonna get rid of that damn thing?"

"I'm so sorry I went off on you like that." Neither expected that, but Kagome found herself speaking almost automatically as guilt emerged from the back of her mind, where Souta's appearance had relegated it. "You weren't keeping it from me just to piss me off, and I went and acted like it was all some kind of personal insult." She buried her face in her knees to relieve some of its stiff heat. "All I did was make you feel bad, and I didn't mean to. It just made me feel so—"

"Kagome. Look at me."

Kagome looked up so fast that her neck twinged in complaint. The command had been quiet, more openly concerned than she'd ever heard him and only slightly irritated.

The pounding redoubled as Inuyasha leaned over, taking her face in one hand. Careful of his long claws, he ran his thumb lightly over her cheek, turning it this way and that as he stared. The intensity of his gaze was more unnerving than the physical contact, which was enough in itself to make her feel distinctly weird. As it was…why was he leaning in closer? _Please tell me he's…but what if Kikyou's out here? We can't. …But we _did_, consarn it, and I— _

"You're sunburned."

Her blood stopped moving for a second. "Huh?"

Inuyasha snorted, scanning her face again and releasing it with a little pat, unaware that the gesture was more insulting than soothing. His ears were his best source of information now that she had the bracelets on, but he couldn't be sure how to interpret the changes in her heart rate. _What, did she think I was gonna chew her out for trying to bring it up again? Damn, women are paranoid… _"That's what you get, tryin' to watch out for everything at once without staying outta the sun the way you usually do. Didn't work this time."

"Sunburn." One heavy, flat word, toneless.

His ear swiveled. "Yeah. As in, you're probably roasted all over, with your luck."

"Roasted." Kagome buried her face in her hands. "Oh, _God_, why do I even bother?"

"Huh?" Inuyasha's brows furrowed. "What's wrong now? It doesn't look _that _stupid."

"Nothing." She half-smiled at his frustrated growl. "All right, it's not nothing. Did you even hear what I said?"

"Yeah, and we've already been through that crap. You only need to say it once, or it gets annoying. 'Sides, I thought you'd rather know you look like that fish the cooks are always tryin' to make me eat." He inserted one claw into his hair to get at an itch that had started behind his ears, cursing as the point snared and clung no matter which way he tugged at it. "Dammit." Another tug. "Ow! Dammit!"

Kagome contemplated hitting him, but only for a split second. _Not everyone's mind is in the gutter too, Kag. _Instead, she smiled ruefully at herself, scooted over, and raised herself onto her knees before the struggle could intensify. "Hold still. You're just making it worse."

Inuyasha submitted with only token grumbling, relaxing against the tree as her fingers located the tangle and began working the coarse hair apart to separate the finer strands beneath, careful not to cut herself on the claw's edge. _Damn these things. I keep forgetting about 'em. _

Down at the river, Souta and Kohaku were seeing who could hold himself upside down the longest, scrawny legs jutting out of the water like mutated plants. "Looks like they're havin' fun," he mumbled, freeing his hand with her help and propping his head up with an elbow on his knee. Her nails trailed over his scalp once more, eliciting a grunt and a shift closer. "Little to the left."

"Aye aye." Pleased, Kagome glanced out at the river to ascertain that the boys were not drowning themselves or each other and then set to work scratching, relishing the unconscious sigh and slackening of tense muscles against her shoulder as she found the itch. "Good?"

An inarticulate mumble expressed his approval so eloquently that Kagome grinned, spacing her fingers to rake loosely through his mane. "No wonder you never do anything with it, if you can't even touch it without getting your fingers caught."

"Mmmmwh'er." It was all Inuyasha could do to stay upright. The trunk supported most of his weight, though Kagome's shirt soaked his shoulder and knee where she leaned over him. He usually found getting wet outside the baths highly unpleasant at best, but with the sensations her nails were starting to draw up and down his scalp, he wouldn't have moved if she'd tried to set his hair on fire.

Kagome briefly considered trying to complete her apology again, vetoing it just as quickly. _If he doesn't want to talk about it, I shouldn't__ bring it up again. We pretty much made up already. _Affection slowed her hand and brought the other up to work on the other side, alternating light and harder strokes so that his eyelids drooped completely shut. _A lot can happen in the next couple of weeks. No point stressing about it. Till then, might as well— _

Inuyasha's ears snapped forward at the sound of Souta's startled voice. "Who're you?"

"A friend, young master." Shimoko's casual reply had Kagome on her feet and Inuyasha scrambling to his instantly. Luckily, her hands had come free easily, and she could attribute her color to excessive sun; what were the odds, both wondered with only slight variation in ratios of embarrassment and irritation, that she hadn't seen them?

The camera swinging from the demoness's wrist conveyed little reassurance on that score. She stilled it with a slight movement of her hands, glanced behind her sharply, and raised an eyebrow at Souta. "Another Higurashi? How did you get into the castle, if I may ask?"

"That's my little brother, Shimoko-san, and we don't really know." Further embarrassed by her wet shirt and bedraggled ponytail, Kagome came down the slope and bowed awkwardly. In what had to be deliberate showiness, Shimoko stood on a large rock jutting from the far bank, letting the sun play on her elaborately styled hair and bird-embroidered green kimono. _Kodak moment. _

"I see." Shimoko cracked her knuckles and scared Souta stiff by winking out of sight, reappearing moments later next to where the boys had just climbed onto their bank. "My name is Shimoko. Yours?"

"Uh…S-Souta." To their credit, though both boys were slightly pale, Kohaku didn't move away, and Souta bowed stiffly despite his evident nervousness. "Pleased to meet you."

"I am demon, Souta-dono, but I assure you, I won't devour you—not without your permission, at least. You don't seem terribly suicidal, so consider yourself safe." Shimoko raised one shoulder and let it drop carelessly, cracking a smile at his bewilderment; _-dono _was much more respectful than a boy of his age should merit. "I like your sister very much, you see, and until you prove unworthy of the association, my addressing you thus is not intended to make fun of you. I prefer to do that more subtly." She inclined her head, half-turning to Inuyasha. "Isn't that right, oji-chan?"

"Maybe we should head back now," Kagome suggested diplomatically over Inuyasha's irate growl. "Didn't you say you wanted to do something special tonight?"

"Ah! Karaoke." Shimoko nodded, smile widening at Souta's reaction. "How does that sound, Souta-dono?"

It might have sounded good to Souta, but Inuyasha was inclined to be slightly more skeptical; they trekked back to the castle, the boys went to change – Souta would need to borrow fresh clothes till his could be washed again – and the others found Miroku and Sango examining another strange device in Kagome's room, already hooked up to the huge television, metal dance mats shifted awkwardly under the bed with one corner sticking out. "What the fuck is that thing supposed to do?" the hanyou wanted to know. Kagome glared at him as Shippou turned over in his sleep, snuggling down into her pillow to escape the noise.

"It's very simple. It plays the music of popular songs, displays the text, and allows you to sing along so your friends can laugh at you," Shimoko said cheerfully, moving to several small bags set next to the karaoke machine. "I brought some traditional beverages to complete the experience."

Kagome stopped rummaging for fresh clothes as she caught a glimpse of several long-necked bottles and groaned. "Shimoko-san, we already _have _sake."

"Oh. Well, you don't have any Kirin beer, now do you?"

She could hardly argue with that.

Sango frowned thoughtfully. "Kirin? Isn't that some kind of—"

"It's a kind of alcoholic drink, Sango-chan. And it's disgusting. Don't let her tell you it's not, 'cause it is."

"Not if you've the palate for it, Auntie. Dare I ask how you might know?" The demoness started to open one of the cans, putting it down discreetly as the shoji opened to admit Souta and Kohaku.

"Actually, Shimoko-sama, I think a bath and a change of clothes is in order," Sango cut in respectfully, eyeing the boys' rumpled, half-dried appearance with considerably less deference. "Would you like to demonstrate how the machine works in the meantime?"

"Yeah, I do kinda reek," Kagome said candidly, holding her arms out from where she was sitting on her bed. Inuyasha snorted as she stopped sniffing and examined one arm more closely, running a finger over the sheen of bright pink. "I can't believe I forgot. I burn at the drop of a hat."

"Moron. You really wanna take a hot bath like that?" Inuyasha didn't wait for her to answer, jerking his head at Kohaku instead. "Go get someone to fill up one of the tubs without heating it, and come right back."

The younger slayer nodded and hurried out, torn between chagrin at his sister's irritation and eagerness not to miss anything by having to bathe right away.

Shimoko reached into one sleeve, pulled out several CDs, and handed them to Kagome. "While we're waiting, Auntie, I'll let you decide on the song order."

"You brought _Disney_?" was all Kagome said in reply, though her tinted face went through varying degrees of amusement, delight and indifference as she looked through the stack, shuffling the jewel cases in her hands carefully.

"I'll have to get you some aloe vera for your skin. As rude as he is, oji-chan has a point. You're too pretty to risk looking like old leather before you're thirty." Shimoko clicked her tongue, producing nearly the same sound as her knuckles and similar reactions. "Isn't she, oji-chan?"

"Keh." Inuyasha bent to rummage amongst the bottles. "How long you staying tonight?"

"Until I get bored, or until everyone gets sick of me." The demoness sat daintily on the edge of the bed. "Not interrupting any plans, am I? I did give you notice."

"No, you didn't. You just said you were bored." The hanyou sniffed at a beer can, almost dropping it at the foul odor. "Holy _shit_. Get this out of here!"

"Oh, come on, oji-chan. It never hurts to expand your horizons a little. I used to hate it, but it's been my favorite drink for a while now." She popped her knuckles again, startling Shippou awake with a sleepy murmur. "Auntie's just too young to appreciate different tastes."

"I am not," Kagome protested. "It tastes like soap mixed with dog poop."

Shimoko waited for Kagome to scoop the kit up and put him down where she had been sitting on the floor to show him the karaoke machine. Then the demoness flicked on the digital camera with deliberate casualness. "Would you like to see something interesting, Souta-dono?"

"No!" Kagome lunged for the camera, which Shimoko had held up in swiping range, and nearly fell over as it was deftly lifted away. "Shimoko-san, that's not fair!"

"Maybe. But neither is your culinary bias." The camera was proffered again, not quite tauntingly. "Correct?"

"Okay, okay. Beer's not that bad. Geez…" She grabbed it neatly, daring to stick her tongue out at Shimoko and earning a chuckle in return. "You're mean." Kagome turned it off and handed it back.

"A little, yeah, but it's a sign of affection, and you're not as easy to screw with as oji-chan. I have to take whatever I can get." Unperturbed, the demoness drew a beautiful fan from her sleeve and opened it with a graceful flick of the wrist.

Inuyasha snorted. Kagome couldn't help noticing as she sat down and let Shippou crawl into her lap, though, that he didn't look as amused by the exchange as she would've thought. _Well, s'not like he wasn't in it, too… _

Kohaku chose that moment to return and prudently knelt as far away from Inuyasha as possible. "It should be ready soon, Kagome-sama." She acknowledged him with a smile and nod of thanks.

"Can I say something?" Souta asked timidly. Shimoko nodded, for the question had been directed at her. "You're really weird. Is that a demon thing?"

"Souta!" Kagome hissed.

"It's all right, Auntie. Bluntness comes in handy sometimes—it cuts through a lot of crap." Shimoko made a fatalistic gesture with the fan, almost a shrug. "I act differently to different people, Souta-dono, but what you see now is how I show I'm comfortable, and it's actually weird in comparison to most of the greater demons. For example, my sire, Sesshoumaru, is Inuyasha's older half brother, and I haven't seen him really smile in over 93 years."

Souta's eyes bulged. "93? Then, how—"

_Thwap _went the fan on his head, not hard enough to hurt, but still meaningful. "Bad idea, and not just because I happen to age at one hundredth the rate you do," Shimoko admonished. Souta rubbed the spot sheepishly without further comment. "For your edification, though, I was born in the time of the Meiji."

"Really?" His eyes defied physics by widening further. "Is that why you talk funny? 'Cause you're o…I mean, you've been alive so long?"

Shimoko visibly decided to let that one slide. She flicked the fan back open with a dark smile and snapped it shut. "You could say I'm a good example of bad timing. Feel up to listening to your elders for a minute? I warn you, it'll be a very long minute." The boy nodded eagerly. She glanced around, then continued when general interest became apparent.

"Y'see, Sesshoumaru violently opposed the presence of the Portuguese missionaries – first Europeans to come along, Europe being a huge land mass halfway around the world – from their arrival in…1543, I think, by the Western calendar, maybe fifty years after this place was put to sleep, and supported their expulsion and the confinement of other foreigners to…Deshima?" She scratched her head. "Some city somewhere. Either way, they were limited and contained about a century later, so outside influence was negligible from that quarter. I haven't studied any of this in decades, so I might get something blatantly wrong somewhere."

"That sounds about right. Please keep going," Kagome said eagerly, and the others nodded. Where else would they find out what had happened while they slept, almost firsthand?

"Good." Shimoko rather indelicately scratched her neck with the closed fan. "Anyway, demon children tend to mature early, but I was more inclined to torment Jaken when I was little than pay attention to stuff like national politics and sociology, so most of what I know is still hearsay or out of books. …Oh, yes. The point. Point is, Sesshoumaru has never been much for humans, or foreigners, in general. He wasn't afraid of them, but he did start to get a little concerned about their weaponry when Perry showed up around the nineteenth century. His main worry was that, if the strangers could develop guns, cannon and other weapons like that, and they were only human, what kind of _demons _might there be elsewhere? Would they force their way into our harbors, too?"

"Kagome-sama, your bath is ready," a servant piped up from outside, and Kagome nearly fell off the bed.

"Go on, Auntie, the story's really not all that interesting," Shimoko said airily, aware that even Inuyasha had been listening closely. Then, with a chuckle for the girl's murderous expression, she shook her head. "The long story short is that, though there _are_ demons in other parts of the world, very few that were able to cross the ocean were interested in a small, rocky country with a dense population but nearby, larger and more populated neighbors. Almost all stayed away thanks to Sesshoumaru and a few other demons' reputations. Trust me, when you're still alive and in power after three or four centuries straight, people start to talk.

"Anyway, Sesshoumaru pretended not to care as long as it was only humans trading with Japan, though I'm pretty sure he was pissed that no foreign demons of any real power thought us worth invading." She held up both palms in amused resignation. "He was curious about the newcomers, though, and wanted to be the first to know what was going on amongst them. Since he wanted a free interpreter he could trust and my only role in the household was seeing how high I could make Jaken fall from without killing him, I was allowed to learn English, German and other languages.

"The problem with speaking with different people is that you tend to start getting ideas, and thinking about them, and eventually you want to talk about them. In this case, I started learning things none of my friends or family wanted to bother with—like the fact that being human and not bathing every day automatically makes you stinky and short-lived, but not necessarily a good _or _bad person. It took me over 60 years to reach that conclusion, which means I grew up not knowing whether I wanted to be more like Sesshoumaru, who is a fine warrior and leader but an arrogant, narrow-minded bastard, or my demon teachers, who were too busy groveling at Sesshoumaru's daughter's feet to instill any real pride in me, or my foreign teachers, who seemed kind and right about some things, but scorned many aspects of Japanese life to my face…till Sesshoumaru found out and started beheading them, which the ambassadors didn't really care for. Mother had no use for any of them, and their guns and engines and body odor fouled the air, so she was gone for years at a time and no help. To summarize, I spent my childhood not knowing what the hell was going on, which taught me how to pretend to be in control by throwing everyone else off before they caught on." A corner of her mouth twitched. "And that, my lords and ladies, is my excuse for being strange, though the only true motive is that confusing people amuses me." She almost barked a laugh, making them all jump. "So much for short. Now, run and take your bath, Auntie."

* * *

Kagome mulled the story over as she shucked her wet clothes, soaked in the cool water, and gingerly tried to dry herself without irritating the burn further. _What a life. Immortality's probably not all it's cracked up to be. It was almost like she was reciting—how many other humans has she told it to? _She shuddered involuntarily. _Maybe, a couple of centuries down the road, she'll tell someone, "I knew this girl named Kagome back at the turn of the twenty-first century," and they'll shake their heads and say, "Nuh-uh, that was a bazillion years ago" in some weird future slang… _

Her shoulders had escaped the worst, but she fancied the scar on her back stung as she draped the towel over it. _Poor thing. What happens when her husband gets old and dies? Or Tadako? _Kagome's throat tightened. Then she smiled, shaking her head. _Maybe I can ask her to babysit my grandkids, too. "Y'all be nice to the demon lady, or she'll bite your knees off, and it'll serve ya right." _She tried not to giggle too loud lest one of the servants should hear. It could have been her imagination, but she thought she'd gotten some very strange looks today.

Sango, who had already bathed, was waiting near the entrance, trying to conceal her yawns. Dried and changed into a fresh tank top and long shorts, Kagome followed her back to the room, unaware of a shadow creeping behind them, or that it fled at a sudden blast of music from behind the shoji.

"What in the…?" The slayer's bewilderment decreased only marginally as the music was hastily turned down to non-painful levels. "Are they playing DDR? It doesn't sound like it…"

"That's a children's song." Kagome cringed as the name assaulted her brain. "Oh, God, I _hate _'It's A Small World After All'!" _I'm gonna have the damn thing stuck in my head for another five years now! _

As if to prove her point about strangeness, Shimoko had indeed chosen to run through the old Disney song for their first hands-on demonstration. "What the _fuck_ was that?" was Inuyasha's baffled verdict.

"Odd," Miroku remarked.

Sango looked halfway between amusement and constipation. "Very."

"I don't get it," Shippou complained.

That nearly prompted Shimoko to play it again just to prolong their reactions; Miroku and Kagome persuaded her to turn it off so they could eat a very late lunch first.

"Uh…Shimoko-san, if it's okay, I'd actually like to wait a little," Kagome said quickly as the demoness began fiddling with the machine again about halfway through the meal. "Before we get into it, could you tell us some more about demons?"

The woman frowned. "Demons? Auntie, you just sat through my rambling, we have a karaoke machine and all this fresh m—first-timers here, not to mention the sake…why talk any more?"

"I'm curious, and Souta doesn't know anything about you." Her brother nodded, sparing Kagome from having to add, _and Sango and Inuyasha look ready to puke. _"I know you've told us a lot already, and we don't mean to pry, but…"

"But you're already involved with demons, and if you know for sure we exist, it's best you know all the facts." Shimoko paused, glanced at Miroku, then at Sango, and back to Kagome. "Any questions in particular?"

Aware that the others probably knew most of this and reluctant to bore them, Kagome nonetheless thought it over and began to clarify points that had been unclear for a while, discovering so many things that she soon ignored Inuyasha's impatient noises: no, most demons were no more monogamous than teenage humans, and some much less so, but greater demons of certain types did tend to mate for life, particularly canines and raptors; single marriage was generally practiced in order to maintain and preserve bloodlines and keep their numbers from reaching unmanageable levels—even the most ideal territories couldn't keep many greater demon appetites fed for centuries on end, and land itself was in short supply for the more mobile and territorial breeds.

No, the tendency to look down upon intermarriage had not declined significantly from Inuyasha's time; Shimoko herself had nearly come to blows with Sesshoumaru on that point, till Kagura intervened to point out that the human in question already had offspring and Shimoko had only to ensure _she _provided no more to avoid any lasting inconvenience. All but the most liberal of the great families still chose to maintain their standards for suitable mates and face extinction before diluting their blood with human or hanyou; those strictures had relaxed just enough since Shimoko's birth for her unequal marriage to be acceptable on any terms, even guardianship, instead of turning her into an outcast and disgracing the Morimoto. "Until my Shiro is gone, though, I'm not expected to show myself amongst other demons unless invited, or visit my former 'friends'—as if that was a punishment."

By now, contrary to Kagome's fears, everyone was still listening, keenly interested in hearing either everyday or new facts from a demon's perspective. Inuyasha was paying particularly close attention despite himself, though only the directions of his ears gave him away as he slouched against the wall.

"Breeding is an odd thing, too, you know." The segue was made in the same conversational tone, giving no one an opening in which to protest or show embarrassment till it was too late. "There are some demons who've never been able to breed with humans at all, or to mate with different kinds. Snake demons, for example, only attach themselves to other snakes. And, to my knowledge, there's never been a tanuki or a koi hanyou. I suppose that has more to do with plumbing than DNA…"

Kagome had to fight not to clap her hands over Souta's ears, which would interrupt and only make him _really _want to listen. _'Sides, he heard worse from Akemi all the time. _At least Shippou and Kohaku seemed lost, she consoled herself.

Shimoko sighed deeply as Kohaku gathered the empty dishes. "But, as I've mentioned before, not many hanyou live to have children. It is possible, I know, but there haven't been enough for us to learn how demon blood shows when it starts to thin. It may be just as well, because three-part-human children are…not encouraged. I've seen many decent and otherwise reasonable people go almost insane at the suggestion that a half-demon might have as much right to a normal marriage as a full human." Shimoko grimaced with such remembered feeling that even Inuyasha pretended not to have seen.

The demoness' spirits rose again, however, as she suggested that karaoke might be more fun than listening to her ramble, and only Inuyasha's desperate suggestion managed to delay once more. "How's that sake you brought? Ours is probably better."

"I strongly doubt that, oji-chan. Hand me the bag, please, Souta-dono, and don't look at me like that, Auntie, because he's not getting so much as a sniff. I have better ways to scramble young brains than alcohol." She produced several sake cups from her other sleeve and began to pour from an opened bottle. "Who'd like to try it?"

Inuyasha was first in line, followed closely by Miroku. Kagome then found herself holding one of the tiny, dish-like cups, letting Shimoko fill it with a smile. "Just sip it, not too fast, or else you'll pass out by the end of the third song. What did you want to start out with?"

"I have an idea for one you might like, Sango-chan," Kagome told her friend, moving aside so Sango could receive her own cup. The slayer winced at the smell, but, faced with the choice of taking sake she had no intention of drinking or being rude by refusing entirely, dutifully selected a cup from the stack Shimoko had brought.

"I hope you're…not…" Coppery eyes narrowed on Sango. "Huh." Shimoko sniffed lightly, eyes widening slightly. "Ah."

"Is something wrong, Shimoko-sama?" Miroku asked warily.

"That depends on your perspective." The demoness inclined her head, gesturing Sango aside and adding in an undertone, "No alcohol for you, dear. If I were you, I wouldn't eat much at dinner, either. It'll make you sicker at bedtime, and sleep is your friend."

"What?" Sango glanced at Kagome, who had no more idea than she did. "What are you talking about?"

"Auntie?" Shimoko beckoned Kagome closer so that the three women formed a loose circle. Only Inuyasha could hear his niece's quiet amusement now. "Has anything about Sango-san been bothering you? I understand from Jaken that you're naturally sensitive about some things."

"Well, maybe, kinda, but nothing worth mentioning. I thought she was just tired." Pause. She and Sango exchanged glances and spoke in perfect tandem. "Why?"

"No reason." _Click _went the TV and the karaoke mike. "All right," Shimoko said into the latter, winking. "Auntie, you want to go first?"

It took two cups of sake – not as stringent as the castle supply, easier to sip quickly, she thought – for Kagome to overcome her reserve and take the microphone from Shimoko, who of course had a heart-stopping alto, low, rich and note-perfect…even if she was displaying it on songs bought for Tadako's use in a few years. "Here, lemme warm up a little," Kagome said coherently, making sure her legs weren't wobbling as she stood and changed the CD. "Ooooh, you've got Tenchi Muyo. I used to love that show. Let's see…"

She selected one of her old favorites and, assisted by the alcoholic warmth loosening her joints, managed to swallow her pride long enough to turn in what she thought a rather credible performance. All but Inuyasha applauded and complimented her warmly at its end, with the latter rather uncharitably pointing out that he hadn't understood a damn word. Kagome was highly offended until she realized that she'd been ignoring the subtitles and singing the English version, as it had been ingrained in her mind as one of the first songs she had known was safe to use in learning pronunciation.

They stopped long enough for Shimoko to top off the other three sake cups, Kagome insisting upon doing the honors for her, and then Miroku was persuaded to try. At Sango's whispered suggestion, Kagome managed to locate a simple song the monk had heard once or twice on the Discman, and Miroku got off to a rousing start by being startled by the sound of his amplified voice every time he attempted to read the rapid subtitles. Kagome controlled her laughter long enough to get him to mimic her into the microphone, which meant he was always five beats late at best; the last two bars repeated so many times, though, that he finally got it, and managed to nail the very last note on nearly the right pitch, relinquishing the 'stage' with a deep bow and a satisfied gulp of sake.

Souta tried to get Kohaku to go with him, but the younger slayer turned a shade rivaling Kagome's sunburn at the very thought of having everyone stare at and listen to him; besides, his reading skills weren't up to the subtitles' speed. So Souta took a turn alone, forced to sing Escaflowne's 'Mystic Eyes' in his cracking voice when Kagome grew tired of his complaints about the selection, hamming it up so that the pop-romance lyrics entertained his audience despite some confusion over the smattering of English words.

Kagome was four cups in and feeling positively wonderful by the time he finished. "'Ey, Sango-chan, les' do this one…" She flipped through till the song's title came up, extending the mike. "C'mon, Sango-chan, this thing's heavy. You gotta help me."

"What are gonna sing?" Shippou asked Shimoko, curled up on Kagome's pillow in the absence of a trustworthy lap.

"You know, little one, I'm not sure. It's my husband's CD. I think he got it for his birthday a few years ago." She drained her sake, leaned down and picked up a beer, sighing contentedly as the song played through a long, wordless, dramatic opening. "I do know this one. You're in for a treat, oji-chan, houshi, boys."

Shimoko's idea of a treat became apparent as the lyrics started, Kagome singing lustily and Sango whispering along, voice trailing off into bemusement at the words, which warned young men to run away from relationships with evil women.

"What the fuck?" Inuyasha mumbled, not for the first or last time.

Another long musical break, during which Sango appeared to be asking Kagome the same thing. Then the lyrics started again, in the same vein, with Shimoko snickeringand further bewilderment from everyone else; what made the heavy melody and cynical words even more surreal was the fact that Kagome's voice seemed to have strengthened, smoothed out and steadied despite the way her knees kept buckling, almost compelling her listeners' attention.

The sound itself grew more appealing through a repetition of the chorus, with Sango joining in tentatively – half grinning incredulously at herself – only to leave Kagome to belt out even worse on a new verse.

"Kagome-chan, _stop_," Sango gasped, unable to stand upright. Her friend was putting everything into it, launching her voice full-speed into every note to draw utmost melodrama from each syllable and rendering her dreadful pronouncements downright silly. Shimoko giggled nonstop into her beer, and the males were collectively unsure how to react.

They got their answer at the last urge for men to run away and a sudden outburst of, "It's so _true_!" from a sake-saturated Miroku. As one, they stared at him, frozen by the near-tearful passion behind it, and offered comfort and understanding by bursting out laughing so hard that servants ventured to tip open the shoji and peek inside to see if anything was the matter. Of course, nothing was, unless one could count the sight of Inuyasha laughing, which was fairly astonishing despite the sake fumes the room exuded.

"You've got a wonderful voice, Auntie," the demoness said once the mirth had died down to some extent, pouring Kagome another cup despite Inuyasha's pointed cough, which sounded suspiciously like _"Nomore!" _

"Oh, no, it's nothin'," Kagome demurred, smiling blurrily at the maids who began streaming in to lay out dinner, serving specially prepared chicken and her other favorite foods. "You jus' keep it fed 'n watered, an' look what happens. Birdy!"

Inuyasha glanced at the sake bottles in growing alarm. The stuff was definitely much stronger than what they'd been drinking the last time alcohol had made one of them look stupid, and though Sango was abstaining, Miroku's reaction alone was worrisome, never mind what Kagome would do when… _Oh, shit, the question. Aw, fuck, what if the brat…what if _Shimoko_ says something and she answers wrong? _

"Inuyasha, dear, you got my chicken," Kagome announced.

Inuyasha's eye twitched as the servants bowed themselves out, faces carefully unreadable. _Shit. _

Despite his fears, peace reigned throughout most of dinner, broken only twice: by Kagome's insistence that the identical dish sitting in front of Inuyasha was hers and there'd been a mix-up, and then an epic and one-sided food fight wherein Kagome decided to see whether soy made rice stickier by throwing it at Souta and Inuyasha. That was literally the moment the maids returned to collect the dishes, forcing them to peel grainy globs off at lightning speed; the servants hardly needed further confirmation that Kagome-sama was utterly plastered.

"Maybe we should ask if she wants to go to sleep," Kohaku whispered to his sister.

Sango shook her head. "Best not to force it. She drank most of that on an empty stomach, so the effects will be worse. We can hope it'll knock her out faster, though."

"Why the hell did you let her have any in the first place?" Inuyasha demanded from across the room.

"I didn't see _you_ taking it away from her. You were too busy drinking yours," she retorted. Miroku nodded distantly, then leaned on the bed and closed his eyes, apparently dozing.

"Mechanical failure could be helpful. Here…" Shimoko turned off the TV with a glance. "I think it's time for karaoke to go to bed for now, Auntie."

"Really?" Kagome pouted. "'Kay. I hafta go pee anyway."

"It happens to the best of us. Oji-chan, would you escort her outside?"

"No way in hell. Sango, you do it."

"She'd be much safer with you, oji-chan."

"What about _me_? I don't wanna get molested again!"

"Even if I believed you, I wouldn't care, oji-chan. Or did you not notice that thing watching you at the river earlier?"

"What? You mean Kikyou? Look, don't _ever_—"

"I doubt your Kikyou stinks of old mud, or that she wears wooden shoes in order to keep her scent off the ground, or that she'd run away just because I happened to come along."

_"What?"_

"'Ey, the mike shtill worksh!"

"Thank you, Auntie. As I was saying, oji-chan, you have a bit of a problem. The wind was against you, and scalp massages _are _nice, but you might want to keep your eyes peeled the next time you go out. You're lucky you were on the other side of the water. I doubt something of that construction could cross there."

"Who wantsh t'hear some mucusals?"

"You're saying…shit." Inuyasha sloshed more sake into his cup and gulped it all at once as bile rose in his throat. "It's never attacked us in open daylight before."

Shimoko's tone was dangerously mild. "Let me get this straight. You have a known enemy, and you not only haven't killed it, but you let your guard down when Kagome and _children _were depending on your protection?"

The cup nearly shattered in his grip as the nightmare threatened to surface. "It won't happen again," he grated, throwing the fragile thing to the tatami. "Stupid mistake." How could he have been so stupid?

"It had better not." Somewhat mollified by the ready admission, Shimoko turned back to Kagome. "Auntie? How are we feeling?"

Kagome responded with a hearty belch that echoed off the walls, then raised a finger. "The elephant fliesh at midnight."

Sango scooted forward, impelled by Souta's open glee. "Inuyasha, do you have any of the powder you gave me last time?"

"I think…no, I used it all. Dammit. Your crap got her into this, Shimoko, you fix it!"

Shimoko started to say something, leaving off as Kagome ceased her mindless humming and began to sing again. Souta stopped laughing, Miroku raised his head, and Inuyasha's ears pricked up at the sound.

"I've never heard her like that," Sango whispered.

"Me nei—when did she ever sing around _you_?" Inuyasha felt his inner ear bones hum slightly at a change from a low, soothing line to clear, high tones. Why did the thought of Kagome letting anyone else hear her outside an alcoholic stupor piss him off so much?

"I don't blame you being jealous, oji-chan," Shimoko said very seriously. "She's not Broadway material, but…" She sighed. "It's a wonderfully romantic piece, too, a man and a woman—oh, she's skipping around. This is the best part, though…" She sighed again, pouring herself some more sake in growing melancholy. "That always reminds me of my first husband."

"You were married before, Shimoko-sama?" Shippou provided the obvious question.

"Mmm. A very powerful water demon, when I was young. Takimaru was a good husband. That didn't save him from an ambush with about twenty holy arrows, but I'm still impressed that Sesshoumaru married me off to a man I actually liked." The demoness raised her cup in a mock toast at their expressions. "This is the part where I assure you that it's all right, I was grateful to have had him at all, that your loved ones always live on in your heart and all that happy crap. And I am, and they do…but damned if I don't still miss him sometimes, 102 years later."

"So you're married now?" Souta asked, just as Kagome fell silent and hiccupped, punctuating his now-lone voice.

"To a human, yes, who may possibly be a relative of yours. I have yet to confirm it, though." The demoness raised her voice to Kagome. "Auntie. Do you know any other romantic songs?"

"Sure. 'Bout yer height, little taller." Kagome hiccupped again. "D'you know who wash shingin' jes' now?"

They blinked at her in perfect unison. Miroku curled up on the floor and closed his eyes again.

"Anyway," Shimoko said briskly, turning back, "Shiro's no Takimaru, and he's not even half as handsome as my second husband was – _he_ was a waste of skin, may he be reborn as a diseased termite – but I can hardly fault him for that." Another pause, as Kagome mumbled something about pink turtles, hummed and resumed singing in that steady, pure tone, as if she was speaking into a tape recorder and randomly pressed fast-forward from time to time.

"So he's your third?" Souta pressed.

Shimoko shook herself. "Yes, he is."

"I know this one," Sango remarked as the song grew louder. "I thought a young man performed it."

"That's allowable in English. There are no distinctions for male or female in referring to yourself, and these words are directed at the speaker's lover, who could be either," the demoness explained. "It's getting to the point where some female Japanese singers use male words simply because they can."

"Isn't it weird being married to a human?" Shippou wrinkled his nose as Shimoko popped another can open. "What happens when he gets old?"

"He'll die, and I'll mourn him. There's not much else to be done, I'm afraid." She shrugged gracefully. "Humans and some demons have been searching for a way to safely prolong human lifespans since my grandfather was young, but the only successful techniques had hideous side effects—humans aren't designed to tolerate demon energy, and infusing them with it is the only way to keep their bodies young. They eventually either die very painfully or become totally corrupted, no better than animals. Even if there was no downside, I wouldn't do it."

"Why not? I like humans. I don't want Sango or Miroku or Kagome to ever get old and die," the kit protested. "Why not at least ask them if they want to live longer?"

"Of course I want more time with him. But, for one thing, it's not fair to other humans, and we can hardly keep everyone alive forever, can we?" She sipped her beer, choosing her words carefully as Inuyasha's frown deepened. "You also have to consider that demons are designed to withstand centuries of wear and tear on the mind as well as the body – little though I like Sesshoumaru, his mindset is a perfect example – but humans aren't. I wouldn't make Shiro stay alive long enough to see Tadako and her children die. It would be selfish, not to mention unnatural, and he'd be justified in hating me for it."

"S'not selfish," Inuyasha argued. "Who says humans want to live just 50 years before they wither up?"

Shimoko eyed him over the top of her can. "However short it may be, oji-chan, that's the extent of their natural life, and tampering with it doesn't do anyone any favors. You're not required to like it, only to accept it, unless you're willing to put your loved ones through a lot of grief by fighting the inevitable."

"Why'sh m'face feel funneh?" Kagome mumbled mid-note, switching instantly to yet another song.

"Don't give me that 'loved ones' crap. Humans are just a pain in the ass." Inuyasha accepted more sake from his niece, who raised an eyebrow at his sourness but said nothing. "Weak and pig-headed, and they die before you can blink. Waste of time even bothering with 'em."

"Precisely. Love makes no sense, does it?" Shimoko emptied her can and crushed it into a tiny ball between two fingers. "I've always liked humans in general, but before I met Shiro, the thought of mating with one would've made me sick to my stomach. I'll be the first to admit he didn't win me over with his looks, either. It hardly follows that I can't keep my hands off him. Just goes to show you, love's the best aphrodisiac. …Except for beer, of course, but that gives you a headache in the morning."

"Have you ever had any children, Shimoko-sama?" Sango asked, partly to divert that line of talk and partly from curiosity.

The demoness smirked at her, then shook her head. "Nope. It's just as well, or my loyalties would be divided even further from my human family. I have enough trouble not thinking of Takimaru. Canine demon blood is useful, but a tendency toward faithfulness can be inconvenient when your first love is long gone and you can't stop thinking of any new affection as betrayal."

"You talk like it isn't," Inuyasha snapped without thinking, grabbing a fresh sake bottle and filling his cracked cup as Kagome's voice swelled in the background.

"Because it isn't. The fact that I married Shiro on my own recognizance doesn't mean I never loved Takimaru, oji-chan, any more than Shiro being a fraction as handsome and strong and intelligent means I love him any less. Difference doesn't equal inferiority, and even if you _think_ it does, your emotions don't abide by distinctions and comparisons like that." Shimoko helped herself to another can. "What's more, if our positions were reversed, I'd be furious if Takimaru sacrificed his own happiness in order to stay faithful to my memory. Why would I want my first love to suffer any further when he'd already lost me?"

"You're _nuts_." The hanyou cursed and swiped at his foot where sake had dribbled through the broken porcelain cup. "No one wants their mate running after someone else the second they start feeding worms. Who filled your head with all that shit? Fluffy?"

Shimoko snorted, nearly spewing beer all over the tatami. "_Fluffy_? That's _brilliant_, oji-chan! Why didn't I ever think of that?"

"I shtill have need of the f'shilties," Kagome informed them between breaths.

"Yes, I suspect you do, Auntie. See, oji-chan? _This _is why humans are necessary. If they didn't live for such a short time, they wouldn't do stupid things in the knowledge that no one will remember them in 100 years, and we would all kill each other out of sheer boredom." Shimoko beamed at him, the picture of jovial yet genteel benevolence. "Now, take her outside before she stops reminding us and pees all over the place."

"Dammit…" Inuyasha hauled himself to his feet, shaking a few more drops of sake off. "Oi, Kagome. Can you walk outside?"

"Sure, if y'carry me." She dropped the mike with a static-screeching thud and held out her arms. Ears nearly bleeding from the sound, Inuyasha nevertheless managed to catch her before her face met the floor. "Whee! Look, Ma, I'm walking!"

Inuyasha had never been so grateful for the bracelets; he could only imagine the way she had to be reeking with all that sake in her system. "You're shitfaced, Kagome, you know that? No, don't answer. Just hold it till we get outside, okay?"

"Okay, I won'."

Inuyasha made a noise of complete panic, and they were both gone the next second.

"I mean' I won' _ansher_. Shilly puppy." The near-half moon shone on the courtyard from perfectly clear skies, warm breeze wafting across their faces. He had transported them out to the nearest privy pit, around which a three-sided screen had been erected some weeks back at her request. "'Kay, pu'me down. Gotta do…that thing where you don' hafta go anymore."

Ignoring her incoherent protests, Inuyasha stationed himself on the open side, back to her and facing the forest with Tetsusaiga loosely at the ready. Eyes and ears constantly scanned the trees on each side, nose ignoring the privy but attuned to any other odors from the castle's direction in case the kugutsu should decide to circle around them. Privately, he was almost grateful to have to be out here. It was infinitely better to be actively protecting Kagome in any capacity than sitting inside with his niece while she lectured him with her life story. Never mind how eerily familiar some details sounded; that didn't mean any of it applied to him.

"Done," Kagome announced presently.

He waited till the rustling of fabric ceased to turn back to her. "All right, come on and—"

The thin whistle of something fast piercing air spurred his body to instinctive action; Inuyasha scooped the girl up in one arm, darting to the side as the screens burst into splinters. Enraged, he shifted Kagome to his left arm and ripped Tetsusaiga free with the right, hacking at the half-visible mass, and was rewarded with a hiss of pain from farther up the courtyard.

"You…!" Inuyasha tensed to charge, faltering as Kagome began giggling against his shoulder. _Shit. I can't attack this thing while I'm holding onto her. But if I let go, she'll probably try to give it a fucking hug!_

"Ge' it, boy!" The girl waved merrily in his face. "Fetch!"

"Shut up and hold still, bitch!" His ears detected another sound, clattering footsteps; Inuyasha made a set of quick calculations, hefted Tetsusaiga one-handed, and threw it like a spear, impaling a smudge of shadow as it fled for the woods. _Got it! _

Shimoko's scolding had had more of an effect on him than he'd thought; instead of rushing over, he paused to check the area, only moving when nothing threatening revealed itself. _Was that all? _Adrenaline still flowed, but anger at the thing for attacking Kagome when she was completely helpless and satisfaction at nailing the bastard so easily overcame his misgivings.

"I give y'a 9.3," he heard her say as they approached the spot where Tetsusaiga now leaned point-down out of the dirt at a low angle, but he wasn't listening. His attention was riveted on the pattern of loose mud and rock littering the ground, the same stuff that had fallen around Sango's katana when she killed the thing last new moon. They had evidently just met the second kugutsu.

_Good riddance, you cowardly piece of shit. _Setting Kagome down with strict instructions not to move, Inuyasha cautiously pulled Tetsusaiga free and sheathed it. _You should've died a lot more slowly for this. _

A pair of wooden platform sandals lay nearby, the kind worn when the ground was very muddy, which confirmed Shimoko's theory about scent. There were too many of them in the servants' quarters and too frequently shared for him to be able to track individual pairs by their owner's scent, and the soles were too high and thick for foot odor to permeate each step as it did with normal sandals and tabi socks. Odd, that he hadn't smelled the rest of it on the wind before he heard its attack—but what did that matter? The thing was dead, and Kagome was safe.

"I feel funny," said the girl in question.

"You drank enough to knock out most guys, and you're scrawny enough as it is." Inuyasha would have spat into the dirt as a last token of his esteem, but his fangs made proper technique impossible. He shrugged, leaning down to pick her up again. "Plus you almost got…hurt." He wouldn't think of her impaled. Almost without noticing, Inuyasha hitched her up closer against his chest. "C'mon, your ass needs to be in bed."

"No, I really feel funny." Kagome tried to push up to scan the area, motor control sufficing to place her head in the crook of his neck. "Think something's happening."

Whatever the girl thought was going on had restored her speech somewhat, an improvement marked enough that Inuyasha bit back any number of sarcastic replies. "Are you okay? Gonna be sick?"

"Nuh-uh. Just feels weird. Something…" She shuddered. "S'gone, whatever it was."

"If you say so." Was there a _third _puppet somewhere? But she hadn't felt the others… _What the hell is it **now?**_

Her head tried to bob in a nod, resulting in a grimace that stretched her burned face rather painfully. "Owww. My brain hurts everywhere."

Inuyasha failed to suppress a snort at her expression. "Good one. Try not to move or breathe or think, and you might start feeling better."

Her tongue flicked out in feebly childish defiance. "Shaddup. You're mean."

He didn't deign to answer that, preferring to note with tolerant amusement that he couldn't recall having ever seen Kikyou drunk _or _sunburned, much less both at once; he couldn't even bring himself to imagine his priestess doing something so undignified or careless. Not that it was fair measuring Kagome by the same standards, or that he wanted to, like Shimoko had said, but it was still interesting.

…Come to think of it, he had been too annoyed and busy drinking to listen closely to that part of the lecture. What exactly was it she'd said about comparisons? Something about—

"What was that?" Kagome shuddered again. "You hear that?"

"Yeah…" Cursing under his breath, Inuyasha suddenly leapt almost straight up, landing perfectly on the open upper floor's railing. At the top of the stairs, Kohaku lay on his back, blood trickling from under his head. "Shit!"

"Uhhh…" The boy stirred, groaning again. His eyes cracked open, focusing uncertainly on them. "Inuyasha…sama? Kagome-sama?"

"Don't try to move, kid," Inuyasha advised, but Kohaku was already sitting up very slowly, gritting his teeth. "What happened? Did you fall or something? What're you doin' out here?"

"I came out to relieve myself…" The castle boys and even a few men sometimes saved themselves the trouble of using the pits by going over the sides, though the laundry women who often walked underneath condemned the habit in the strongest possible terms. "Something knocked me out. I…I didn't see anything."

"Probably the kugutsu, didn't want any witnesses. You sure you should be moving? You coulda knocked something loose." Suspicious, Inuyasha took a deep breath. _Kid's not lying. Guess he just got lucky it didn't kill him. …Ah, it didn't want a lot of blood stench to warn me. That makes sense. _He relaxed.

"Concussions are bad," Kagome said in a very small voice, startling Inuyasha back into alertness. "You're…blood."

Kohaku bowed very shakily. "No, ane-ue and our father used to give me worse than this in training. I'll ask her to bandage it, so please don't worry about me. It's my fault for not avoiding…what was it? A kugutsu?"

"Don't beat yourself up, kid. It didn't have any demon energy for you to notice. Be grateful it didn't kill you. If you can move, we'd better get back inside and tell the others."

If Inuyasha thought that that was the last unpleasant surprise of the night, he soon found himself grievously in error; Kohaku insisted on tottering down to the baths alone for hot water to wash his bloodied hair, and when Inuyasha approached Kagome's room, half listening to Shimoko and Sango's conversation inside, he froze, eyes drawn to kanji scratched into the wall beside the shoji:

_Once more soon_

"Wha're we doin'?" Kagome slurred, fatigue robbing her of what little alertness she'd enjoyed outside.

"Nothing." A moment of concentration was all it took to force the wood back into innocuous smoothness. "Time to go to sleep, Kagome." Proud of how steady he sounded, Inuyasha opened the shoji and wasted no time in informing everyone that another kugutsu was dead, Kohaku had been slightly injured but was already fine, and the party was definitely over.

"I knew I shouldn't let him go alone," Souta said worriedly. "You told me there was something weird out there, and—"

"It's all right, Souta-dono. There was nothing you could've done. Besides, the thing is dead now, isn't it?" Shimoko caught Inuyasha's hesitation in nodding, but continued cheerfully. "You've nothing to worry about. Could I prevail upon you to let me stay the night, oji-chan? I'll try to make myself useful—after all, it is a mess here."

"If you want." Inuyasha nodded curt gratitude at the unspoken offer; he hated to admit it, but another demon's help in guarding the castle would be extremely reassuring right about now. He'd have to wait to tell them about the message.

Finding room adequate for everyone's peace of mind presented enough of a problem to occupy him for a while, though. Kagome protested when he put her down on her bed, and kept up a stream of unintelligible complaint all through Sango's insistence that Miroku wasn't capable of being moved to his own room, then Shimoko's snap of fingers and the monk's disappearance, which upset the slayer till she was sent after him a moment later; Souta rushed to see if Kohaku was really okay as the other boy returned, and trekked after him when he left to find Sango despite warnings of all the stairs he'd have to climb, leaving Shimoko to sigh and promise she'd take care of the rest of them if Inuyasha would watch over Kagome for the night.

It took Inuyasha a moment of silence in the deserted room to realize that his niece would probably convince everyone to sleep in either Miroku's or the adjoining room, for safety's sake, or to let Kagome get some much-needed rest, or some other reason just legitimate enough to trap them in _here _for the night. Would there be enough room if he brought Kagome up there? …No, there wouldn't even be space for Shippou, considering how small Miroku's chamber was. The kit was snoozing on the floor, so deeply asleep that the sound of his name spoken in Inuyasha's gruffest tone produced no effect.

_Great. _Even if he woke the brat up, Shippou would just annoy him by asking stupid questions, or report what Kagome did or said to the others. Best to let him sleep.

Speaking of which…. Inuyasha weighed his options and prudently decided to just skip The Question tonight. No telling what she would say, and he needed to stay alert in case something made good on the threat. His hackles rose just thinking about it.

Something brushed his ears, startling him so badly that he had Tetsusaiga halfway out before Kagome could pull her hand back, eyes wide. "Sorry." She curled up, tucking her arms against her torso, wincing. "I sleep now."

"Shit." Chagrined, Inuyasha climbed onto the edge of the bed, leaning forward on his right elbow to pat her hair awkwardly with the left. "Relax. I'm not mad at you, just a little tense. Can't blame me, can you? …Eh, you probably can. You're a woman, after all."

"Yeah…" Clearly failing to comprehend everything but the reassurance, Kagome grasped his sleeve and tried to pull on it. "M'scared."

"You picked a pretty bad night to get drunk off your ass." Inuyasha growled softly as she rolled over to make a pillow out of his left forearm, forcing him to lean over further. "That's not yours, wench."

Kagome sighed, closing her eyes. "Night, Inuyasha."

"Dammit, Kagome, we're not doing this again. Get off." Her head's weight was so negligible as to feel nonexistent, but Inuyasha still found he couldn't move. "This ain't that comfortable."

"Move." One eye creaked open, pleading with glassy brown.

"Friggin' spoiled wench…" He moved to her other side, settling himself against the wall a safe distance apart. "There."

Count of five.

Kagome rolled over and sprawled half on him.

_"Dammit!"_

"Sh'p." A limp arm inched up his chest, migrated round his neck and dug into his hair, neutralizing his burgeoning will to push her off and reestablish his personal space.

Only a stern self-reminder of his earlier slip saved him from falling victim to her nails again. When he firmly removed her hand and placed her arm between their chests, Kagome simply snuggled closer. "Riv' was fun."

"Yeah, but the kugutsu was there, too. We coulda been killed. _You _could've gotten hurt or killed while I was just sitting on my ass."

"Wha' else y's'posed sit on?"

"Don't change the subject. …No, screw the subject. Go to sleep." He willed the last of the torches out. "We'll talk about it while you're hung over."

"Hope Sango feels 'kay. Real' kill Nark-guy now." Kagome yawned. "Make me same's Sango aft' drunk."

"What?" He'd been able to pick up on most of her babbling, but that one escaped him completely. "Same what?"

"Want to la'er. Cu' li'l ears good." She stuck her face into his neck so that his pulse fluttered against her cheek. "Night."

A fitting end to a very strange day, both good and bad. Inuyasha satisfied himself that she was going to stay quiescent, then carefully curled his arm around to rest over her shoulders and keep her head tucked under his without obstructing his vigil of the doorway. _Damn, those bracelets make this weird. _Handy, and less distracting than heat, to be sure, but smelling nothing of her all day except old, mixed scents on the bedding was downright depressing. He'd almost prefer to take his chances and ask her to leave the silver off, if it meant he could stop thinking of sniffing everything she might've touched recently. That was just pathetic.

_Not much chance of that now. The whole room stinks, no thanks to Shimoko. _Inuyasha knew his niece couldn't help it, but her smell set his teeth on edge, even if she was careful to apply subtle and reasonably pleasant perfume before most of her visits. _No one's forcing her to mouth off about loyalty, acting like she wasn't talking to _me _most of the time. _If she'd thought to persuade him by planting new ideas indirectly and having him undergo some kind of epiphany and spontaneously decide to…something…that just showed how well she knew him. _Not one fucking bit. _

"Soy sauce," Kagome distinctly muttered under his jaw.

Her meaning eluded him once again, this time with more dire consequences. In fact, he had no clue how long it took him to remember what soy sauce had to do with her sudden decision to start licking a spot on his neck, because his brain immediately decided that the damp, gentle stroking was Not A Bad Thing; his body agreed heartily, and between the two, the parts of his mind not dedicated to enjoying it were shunted aside till Kagome's slow breath on the wet skin alerted him that she had fallen asleep.

_Threw rice at neck. Had sauce on it. _The stilted explanation fought its way to the forefront, but wasn't entirely successful in quelling his reactions. As _he _had no bracelets on, the smell of her emigrated saliva was more than capable of reaching his nostrils, which were not far away and perfectly willing to assuage any lingering doubts that his mind was out to drive itself insane by coming up with unlikely scenarios.

The negative aspect of such a pleasant attack lay chiefly in the fact that his attacker was drunk and not likely to continue, of course, or to pick up where she left off once her ability to remain awake returned. His less noble instincts had several definite ideas about what to do next, and even the more prudent ones ventured that she might not mind if he woke her and asked first—

_What the _fuck _is wrong with me? She has no clue what the hell she's doing. Even the bouzu wouldn't try anything now. _Inuyasha shook himself as her breathing deepened into contented near-sighs. _Can't believe I even thought about it._

Gradually, very gradually, the ache diminished and his head cleared, and he could return to his vigil with exasperated anger to keep him alert. _It's always something. Can't let her touch me, can't let her out of my sight, can't keep her away when she's _in _sight. _

There was a moment of panic as she made a noise and started squirming in her sleep, allayed as soon as he lifted his other arm and stopped pressing her burned skin. "Sorry," he mumbled aloud, and imagined a sigh of "Nah" in response.

Now that his mind was ranging over this kind of thing, Inuyasha found himself extremely grateful that she'd accepted his fate already; he'd known seppuku or ritual suicide was no longer practiced in this era, but her reaction to the discovery had still been much more violent than he'd expected. He could even understand, in retrospect, why Kikyou had told Kagome, if she'd thought it would soften the blow. Why Kagome had been so upset in the first place…he couldn't pretend it was because she'd been worried he'd leave them to deal with the kugutsu, or fear of losing her main guard against Kouga's advances.

Inuyasha stifled a growl at the thought. Kagome was too openhearted for her own good. If she'd just stop being so friendly to the damn wolf, he wouldn't bother her, the same way she wouldn't have been so affected by a stupid hanyou's mistakes if she had refused to come in the first place. _Like I actually would've killed that idiot and wasted five seconds of my life, not to mention the cleanup. _

_…But…if she hadn't come along, we'd all be dead by now, and I'd never have gotten to make the bouzu fall in the river. Served him right. _He smirked. _Never would've found out which one of 'em would make the first move. Gotta give Sango credit there. And I never woulda known I had a pain in the ass for a niece, or what it's like to have the servants talk to me like I'm not a walking piece of dog crap…or how weird a girl can be without being sick or possessed. _

There was an interesting thought. _Maybe she's got some kinda brain disease that makes her prone to touching people when she's not supposed to. I'll never forget the first time she grabbed my hand…didn't know whether to boil it or never wash it again. Now look at me, letting her treat me like part of her bed— _

His mind took that in an unfortunate direction, and Inuyasha amended it as quickly as possible. _Treats me like some kind of pet. _

Another tangent presented itself in a more somber light. _What would Kikyou have been like after we got married? _Beyond the obvious physical and emotional freedom, and the possibility of children, he really hadn't devoted much thought to it. _She was always so sad, so serious. And that was a good thing, it was _her_, but… _He'd hoped, in the back of his mind, that they would both be happier in their new life. Why wouldn't they have been happier? There'd never been any doubts regarding each other's feelings, and even without her more specialized abilities, Kikyou's healing skill would have guaranteed them a place in any village they chose. The ingredients had nearly been in place before the kugutsu ruined it all…

_And how did it manage to ruin it? _The new thought made him go stock-still, no longer aware of Kagome's discomfort where he gripped her shoulder. _All it had to do was wait till you refused to go after her. All it had to do was bait the trap and lead you both into it. All it had to do was kill her and let guilt kill you, too._

_SHUT UP! _Inuyasha no longer cared that he was arguing with himself. The fact that it _was _his self saying these things rendered escape or denial impossible. _What the fuck was she supposed to think? She saw and _felt _me rip her apart! _Pain constricted his chest. _How am I supposed to blame her for that kind of mistake? She still died because of me. She was right. She still is. _

Inuyasha waited, literally not daring to breathe. _So there, dammit. _

That, of course, was not that. He could feel that rebellious voice casting around, trying to shift through his faulty memory for parts of Shimoko's speech, and it was only a matter of time before it found something suitable. His mind was just screwed up enough to know where to hit itself effectively.

Distraction. He needed to think about something else, someone to talk to…

Kagome. Asleep, breathing still soft and heavy, leaning up against him when the room was more than warm enough and he knew from experience how sake could raise body temperature. What else had her decision to come and then stay given him?

_Tetsusaiga. Can't forget that one. _Inuyasha swallowed, muscles beginning to unlock as he concentrated on the sound of Kagome's respiration. _Got some good fights with the wolf…that stuff she brought, with the noodles, that was pretty damn good…and fights with _her_, those arguments we used to have. _The corners of his mouth pulled themselves up for a moment. _Never had anyone yell right back at me. I still don't get why she didn't just throw her food at me and leave… _

That left the most obvious point, the one he couldn't pretend hadn't happened – and frequently – without being hideously unfair to both of them. After all, she'd made it clear enough how much it offended her when he dismissed physical contact as something she did to annoy him. The discovery still made him want to bang his head bloody against the wall at having hurt her, and at having hurt her with a stupid lie, no less. Without descending into nauseating metaphor or short-changing the experiences, Inuyasha could safely say that he had never had any clue how exhilarating, peaceful, and very _personal _the act of slobbering all over another person's mouth could be, sometimes all at once.

There was no use telling himself Kagome had just felt sorry for him or did it as a matter of habit, either. He believed her that the first had been hers, too, and he didn't need experience himself to know that there was nothing habitual about any of the times that had come after. Hell, his leg still twitched thinking of that time in the treehouse, never mind Souta's interruption. Would they ever finish it?

_And what happens if we do, and then we get carried away? _That wiped the smirk off his striped face. _That's…no. Not going to happen. _His limbs grew cold, drawing Kagome closer protectively. _Can't spend all my pre-Kikyou time with Kagome, either, or I won't be able to look her in the face._

But as long as he was here, he could hardly ignore her, either. It would be impossible to ignore someone who unconditionally liked and accepted him in a manner he'd never dreamed of as a hanyou, and he would have to develop a much wider masochistic streak than his occasional bouts of self-doubt to reject the girl who had become the best friend he could've wanted: patient, understanding, good-natured and forgiving without being a pushover. _No way in hell you could call her that after the way she called me a fuzzy asshole to my face, took out the spider, stood up to Fluffy…stupid, maybe, but not a coward. _

That was as good a place to end that line of thought as any. Inuyasha wasn't used to excessive gratitude or introspection, and it was a little alarming to think that Kagome would probably be as embarrassed as him to hear it—even considering the notion of telling her any of these things gave it way too much credence. He did trust her more than anyone he could think of, but…

_But nothin'. _He liked her, trusted her, and there was some attraction, occasionally a little too much. Kagome was a good person, after all, so there was nothing wrong with acknowledging it…to himself…when he had to. _Hell, I'll let the wolf know he doesn't deserve her any day. _

All things considered, and as bad as most of those things were, Inuyasha knew he could've done _much_ worse than having met Kagome. _I might even tell her one of these days. …Yeah, gotta do that before I die. I owe her, after all. _

_

* * *

_

A/N: Ouch. Fingers. Brain.

Yes, that was massive. That easily could've been two or three chapters. It was one, for a few reasons: I didn't feel like splitting it up again; inspiration hit, and I'm notoriously poor at shutting up my shared Irish Imp muse; it was taking long enough anyway; and most importantly, I feel like poo. Stress from job-hunts and college and potential new college and pneumonia-mono double-sick boyfriend and possible case of mono from said bf are not conducive to good writing, and I'm probably going to wait another week for spring break to even start outlining the next chapter. Till then, please enjoy, and may all your croutons be crunchy and your throats not horribly itchy like mine.

(Ran into problems chopping song lyrics and had to reupload. Grr.)


	37. Piecing Together, Part One

Disclaimer: Inuyasha's not mine. I'm getting sick of writing these…

A/N: This isn't a fic—it's a monster! But you've probably figured that out already. :'D Fun fun.

Many thanks and apologies to everyone who was patient. (If you weren't, you know who you are.) Much as I'd love to not be in college, maid-of-honoring in my best friend's wedding, and…well, can't lie, but much as I do like having a new job, I'm afraid I am a wee busy with Reality. I'll try to get the rest of this out a little quicker, but no promises.

Cookies to Elven Kagome and Dazed for catching the lyrics (I'm sure more of you recognized _Phantom_, but ye who speak up get mentioned), and to several people who got…something else soon to be revealed, i.e. Shamanic Destiny, Red RoseDragon – very subtle ;) – LitEBulBsRbRyT, JaneDrew, The Copper Rose, everstar on AIM, and whoever else figured it out but didn't bring it to my attention. Of course, on ff dot net, there will never ever be any lyrics mentioned here ever again, because doing so would be cause for the untimely paralysis of my account's back legs, and then it'd have problems going to the bathroom. We don't want that, now do we?

And the record should reflect that any anime, manga or songs I mention here are screened for anachronism, as this story takes place in mid 2004; Naruto, Fruits Basket and Fullmetal Alchemist – at least the manga – were all definitely out by that point, some for several years, and Wicked was released in December of '03. Trust me, I've made several mistakes that I know of, but those weren't among them. (As always, if someone can offer proof that I've screwed up, I'm a-listenin'.)

Thanks for the con crit, Mistress Storm Crow; I've been meaning to ramble about one point you brought up for a while now, actually. Sorry to everyone who already knows more about Japanese than I do: feel free to skip the next paragraphs. (If you're feeling lazy either way, go ahead. Don't feel bad. I'd probably skip ahead, too. :D)

I'm not an expert by any stretch imaginable, but for those of you who can't pretend you know stuff like liars such as myself, I do know that slang is one of the biggest sticking points about translation in 'most any language, and Japanese in particular has several quirks, like sentence structure (characters can trail off without giving a verb, for example) and levels of politeness, that are insanely difficult to convey in English without sounding stilted, stiff or just plain weird. In other words, you can write Japanese-spoken dialogue as English and put it any number of ways, which gives demented persons like me a bit of leeway in dialogue, idioms, etc.; if I have a choice between giving a Japanese pun and stopping to explain or including a note at the end of the story, forcing you to either move on without getting it or stop and scroll down – both of which annoy me immensely as a reader, dunno about y'all – or fudging by including a morsel or two of English wordplay, I'm going to take the latter and flagellate myself before I go to bed in ritual Japanese-student penance.

As for my usage being different from the official anime and manga translation, well, even those two don't necessarily match up—I thought having the manga villagers and manga Jaken speak in brogue was silly, and they didn't do so in the dub of the anime, either, which in my opinion uses far too many puns and irritating slang words anyway. ("Hipster with the chicklets." …It burns, precious…) I do admit to mixing and matching styles, like 'this Sesshoumaru' and a couple of weird Viz bits, i.e. Kaede's 'ye' and 'Tetsusaiga' versus the correct 'Tessaiga,' but I'm learning, and I know which ones I'm never ever using again once I'm done with this fic. ;) Very good point. Thanks again.

Now, where was I…? Oh. Story. Right. Well, here y'go, then.

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter** **37**

As the night wore on and serious topics threatened to overwhelm the layer of Inuyasha's brain not attuned to their environment – when had he lost the ability to not think at all? – he found himself taking refuge in increasingly stupid contemplation. Rock bottom came soon after dawn, when he found himself reasoning, _But if I get that collar off her before she wakes up, she might not notice for a while, and I can just say she threw it away while she was drunk or something—_

A faint sound: wood scraped wood harshly as the shoji was slowly, clumsily edged away from its frame, a breathy rattle of something brushing against rice paper.

"Who's there?" Instantly refocused on the warm darkness, Inuyasha strained his ears in vain for breathing or other telltale noises outside. No footsteps had padded up or down the hall for several minutes now, and those had belonged to servants up before dawn, few of whom usually came by this early lest they somehow disturb Kagome-sama's rest. If something had thought to catch Kagome alone and off guard, a warning might get rid of it without risking a close-quarters fight.

His hackles rose, muscles tensed further as the shoji shuddered more insistently, and a curl of _something_ silently wedged itself between the wall and the screen's edge. "Last warning, you fucking bastard."

No response. The thing paused. Inuyasha deftly untangled himself from the sleeping girl, loosened Tetsusaiga with a flick of his thumb and crouched on the edge of the bed. _Wasn't kidding when it said it was coming soon…_

The pale blob peeping through the crack – his eyes could detect movement in the dark, but not color – moved upward. It stopped again.

Suddenly the shoji was roughly yanked open. Inuyasha whipped the sword out and braced to meet their new attacker as its head popped into the room—with a satisfied "Mraow."

A moment of frozen silence. Buyo yawned with another, more cross meow, and Inuyasha was hard pressed to relax instead of throwing Tetsusaiga at the cat as he wriggled his front legs through the shoji. "You _stupid_—"

"Mraow." Inuyasha growled, not at the loud interruption so much as the smug expression on Buyo's fat face. The calico squeezed his sizable backside through the crack, followed closely by four squeaking balls of fur, and began strolling across the room as if everything was perfectly fine.

_Shit! _"Stupid damn…"

Kagome turned over in her sleep to face him, forcing his voice down several decibels. "…_cat_. Next time, I'm just gonna skewer you first. Or throw you in the river, _then _kill you." With a backward glance to make sure the girl hadn't woken up, Inuyasha sank back onto the bed, letting one leg hang over the side as he slammed Tetsusaiga partly into its sheath. "And how the hell did you get that thing open, anyway?"

Buyo blinked contentedly, dropping to his chunky haunches with a loud, nasal purr.

_Dammit._ "Fine. Just don't bug Kagome, you got that?"

Inuyasha had no time to contemplate the folly of lecturing a feline, as one of the tabbies suddenly decided to charge the bed, leaping clumsily at Inuyasha's dangling foot and catching itself on the blanket as it missed. "Quit it, or—"

He bit the words off as Kagome made a sleepy noise, moving over again to face the wall. The hanyou sheathed Tetsusaiga fully, stepped pointedly over the cats and stalked over to the shoji, closing it softly. _I swear I'm gonna get rid of that damn cat somehow one of these days. _He listened to the hall again for good measure, turning back with a grunted sigh. _Almost gave me a heart attack _and _woke her up. He's just lucky Kagome would rip me a new one for it, or I really would _"OI!"

Buyo was already in Inuyasha's spot, sprawled out on his back with his eyes half closed, and the tabby had nearly scaled the blanket hanging over the side, her fellows close behind. "You little—!"

"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered, turning her head to cough. She blinked, swallowing thickly as the calico kitten climbed over the tabby, toddled onto Kagome's leg and began kneading her bare skin with needlelike claws. Inuyasha shoved Buyo aside to sit beside her, depositing the irate tabby on the floor for good measure as Kagome tried to cough in between words: "What's wrong? What're you…doing…here?"

"Nothin'. You sound like shit." Chagrined, Inuyasha shifted around to size her up covertly. She'd proven herself resilient in the face of potential hangovers before, but Kagome had consumed much more last night than their first drinking session, and more potent stuff, not to mention all the caterwauling she'd done. At least it looked like she felt all right; she was already sitting up, cuddling with the kitten and trying to coo at it with no apparent headache or nausea.

Of course, she _sounded_ as if something had taken a rusty blade to her vocal cords, but if that was last night's only lasting effect, she'd – they'd – gotten off easy. Without her scent, he could only gauge her health by sight and sound. _I'm **really** getting sick of those things._

And if she didn't remember what had happened…well, on second thought, that probably wasn't much of a loss anyway.

"What time is it?" Kagome tried to wet her lips. It was like watering plants using damp sand. Why did her throat feel so raw?

"Doesn't matter. Go back to sleep." His leg "accidentally" swept Buyo onto the floor with a meaty _plop_, scaring the other three kittens away from the bed. "Want me to get rid of 'em?"

Kagome was too muzzy-headed to scold either Inuyasha or the little calico as it playfully mauled her hands. "No, s'okay. But'm really thirsty. An' itchy." One shoulder of her loose shirt fell aside under her fingers as she absently scratched her neck. "I think I might _owww_!"

"You're still burned, idiot," he reminded her helpfully, almost simultaneously and two seconds too late.

"Why, _thank _you, o sensitive one." A dry cough partly muffled her grumbling. "Might never've figured it out."

"Feh." Unseen, Inuyasha winced sympathetically. "Be careful."

"I know." She eased her shirt away from the offended area, hissing between her teeth: a brush of cotton skimming across the stiffly inflamed skin felt more like an attack with steel wool.

Inuyasha had to look away. It might be a little thing, and she'd doubly brought it on herself, but that didn't make him feel much better about seeing her in pain.

Kagome counted to ten backwards in English pig Latin before speaking again, very clearly. "Ow."

Inuyasha snorted quietly, sized up the kitten's proximity to her more vital parts and decided that an attempt to remove it himself would probably not work. "Go back to sleep, Kagome. Best thing to do, 'specially after you get really shitfaced."

"Mmph. Throat hurts." Kagome's careful descent back against the pillow made the calico cling stubbornly, settling down in a furry ball in a spot from which Inuyasha had no chance of moving it without serious repercussions.

The girl moved her shoulders a little; she could tell where his arm had rested during the night, because that was where the sunburn felt the most raw. _Beautiful. _Why had he slept in here last night? At least it smelled like him now… "Where're the others?"

"Asleep." This was probably a blatant lie, as he could hear more footsteps moving through the halls now, but if it got her to stay down, it was—

"Good morning, Auntie, oji-chan."

Kagome half-sat up and attempted to greet Shimoko, who was standing on the other side of the shoji. It came out as a cross between croaking and retching.

"You sound hale and hearty this morning, Auntie. Has she been sick, oji-chan?"

_Great. _Inuyasha growled something profane under his breath, ears pinned back as his niece's dense scent began to permeate the room from the hall; it would linger for days, maybe longer, if she didn't go away soon. "She's fine. What the fuck do you want?"

"I have to get back now, oji-chan. Before I go, I've some things here for…oh, yes, before I forget—I've sobered the monk up a bit, talked with him and gave Sango a drink to help her sleep, but I'll have to leave the rest to you two." Pause. "Scratch that. I'll have to leave the rest to _you_, Auntie, and don't let him make too much an ass of himself till it sinks in properly. I'll just leave these for you…" A soft thump of something meeting the floor brought Inuyasha's ears up. "Drink one and apply the other, or apply both if you like. Thank you for hosting me, and I bid you both good day."

"What about all the shit you left in…oi!" Inuyasha had the shoji open and was snarling at nothing in the time it took Kagome to blink. _"_Dammit!"One of these days, he might get used to his niece disappearing; today was definitely not it, especially not with about eight gaping servants too many in attendance. "Stupid nosy smelly sneaky bitch…"

His not-so-soft curses dried up at the sight of two containers right outside the shoji, one of which he thought he recognized from a similar specimen in the kitchen. _Huh. _He picked both up and closed the shoji, too busy studying the odd shapes to notice the maids whispering to each other as fast as their lips could move; moments later, the women hurried off in every direction, each laden with confirmation of Inuyasha-sama waking up in Kagome-sama's room when everyone knew perfectly well that the others had all slept in _his _quarters last night.

Kagome had just managed to get comfortable lying on her good side when the torches decided to spring to life and scare her even more spitless. "Stop that!" she rasped, pushing herself up on one elbow and shielding her eyes with an unsteady hand. "Thought you wanted me sleep!"

"If you couldn't see, you'd spill it all over the place." Inuyasha neatly sliced the top off the larger, clear bottle and sloshed cold water at her with a tilt of his wrist. "Here."

She should've been peeved, particularly when a drop landed on the kitten and sent her scrambling for higher ground on the blankets against the wall, but the splash on her arm was actually quite pleasant; Kagome had to fight the urge to grab his arm and tip the rest over her head. _Apply both, huh? Tempting… _Instead, she accepted the decapitated bottle and carefully drank most of the contents, handing the rest back when her stomach began to protest. "Thanks."

"Keh." The other bottle, much smaller, smoother and plain grey, contained something pungent and definitely not drinkable. "You're supposed to put this on?"

"Guess so." Before she could stop him, Inuyasha had given up trying to remove the cap and lopped it off for her. "Try it."

Sighing patiently, Kagome took the bottle's corpse and eased a little greenish-blue gel from the open neck onto her palm. It smelled okay – for some reason, she could still smell herself with her new accessories on – and looked medicine-y enough; thus convinced, she sat up and dabbed it on her shoulders with a little yelp. "Oooh! Cold. Cold. Ow. Cold. Cold. Ow…. Oooooh." Indignation melted into appreciation as the pain slowly disappeared. "Wow!"

"The hell is that stuff?" the hanyou grunted, leaning in to examine the bottle again, this time upside down as she upended it to dump half its contents onto her neck. "Quit wasting it, stupid. Burns take days to heal for humans."

"I can't help it," she said truthfully, pulling her collar as far as it would go in all directions to spread the gel evenly; coolness worked its way through the offended areas till she could move freely without so much as a twinge. "I don't know what it is, but it's working."

"Stop that." A great deal of skin was making itself noticed, and her blissful little noises weren't terribly helpful, either. "Okay, I got it, you're better now. Now go to sleep."

Kagome dropped back to the mattress with an exaggerated sigh. "Aren't we grouchy today. Go eat something or something." She didn't bother to cover a yawn, interrupting herself with a giggle as his stomach rumbled and Buyo meowed an answer from the floor. "You eat an' I'll sleep, 'kay?"

"Later." The torches sputtered out. "Shut up and good night."

"Pushy." Right on cue, lethargy seemed to settle over her like a thick blanket, drawing out another, weaker yawn. "'Kay, you talked me…into it." She rolled over till her legs hit his backside, then scrunched in closer and let her eyes droop shut. "Go eat."

"I'm not leaving. I don't trust you by yourself," Inuyasha said harshly. Those kanji last night had been fairly clear, he thought, and there was no way he wasn't taking them seriously.

"You're mean," she mumbled, petulance breaking him out of his reverie.

He snorted, but let the girl to rest her head against his leg and petted her hair absently. "I'll explain more when you're awake. It's for your own good, wench, got that?"

Kagome did not answer: she had just fallen asleep.

The reprieve was fleeting. Almost the moment she got herself situated on her impromptu, not-soft but reasonably comfortable pillow, Kagome heard another voice. "A remarkable performance, girl, though I see it has cost you already."

It was hard to say which was worse, waking up to find Inuyasha gone, or waking to the realization that she was still asleep. "I don't want to hear it, Kikyou." Kagome sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Sure enough, the priestess knelt in the center of the room, which was otherwise empty. "Any reason you decided to drop by? Or are you just here to spite Inuyasha for bugging me about going to sleep?"

A flicker of tensely repressed anger vibrated in the air for a half second, before Kikyou regained her composure and Kagome could remind herself that she'd better be careful—after all, she'd fallen asleep on Inuyasha, not to mention he'd stayed in her room, presumably alone. _Wouldn't blame her for feeling a little touchy. …Why did he spend the night anyway? And what perf—_

"You're thinking aloud, girl." Kikyou smiled thinly at her discernable embarrassment. "I'm sure Inuyasha will be more than happy to inform you of what I meant by that…" The smile disappeared. "Though you would likely rather not know that you were both nearly killed last night, not to mention the younger slayer. The Jewel may help you remember, though I can't speak for it."

Kagome would have blinked if her eyelids had been working. She paused to regroup, deliberately thinking aloud now and phrasing one question at a time. "Is Kohaku okay?"

"He should be fine with a little rest."

"Good. …Why would the Jewel—"

"Because it likes you, you and your younger brother." The priestess somehow made that sound perfectly normal. "It's siphoned considerable amounts of your power in order to keep you safe from attracted demons, for one. Did you honestly think you recovered from our first discussion with no lasting ill effects by pure luck? Or that either of your drunken stupors simply decided to wear off the next morning? You may be fairly powerful, but I've yet to see _any_ priestess capable of purifying hangovers."

_Smartass. _No reaction this time. Confident that she had her emotions back under wraps, Kagome asked the next thing that came to mind:"So, it _likes _us? Like a puppy or something? How does that work?"

Kikyou smiled again; Kagome got an impression of more amusement than malice for once. "Hardly. But I wouldn't be surprised to wake up with a few rather _interesting _recollections if I were you. In this case, it may deem it kinder to leave you in the dark."

That made no sense until something in the back of her mind clicked. _…Uh oh. _"Please tell me the karaoke machine plus me being plastered had nothing to do with me waking up with a sore throat."

Now Kikyou's eyes showed the closest thing to genuine humor that Kagome had seen or felt thus far. "I could, but I would prefer not to lie."

"Aw, _crap._" Kagome didn't even try to hide her reaction this time. "I swear I'm never touching sake as long as I live."

Kikyou's amusement was still evident, but to her credit, the moment was allowed to pass as Kagome got a hold of herself again. "Did everyone see it, or what?"

"You've worse problems than having made a talented fool of yourself." The glimmer of good-natured tolerance was gone in an instant. Kagome couldn't help a little pang of regret: she'd almost liked Kikyou for a second there. "A second kugutsu attacked you and gave the boy a head wound last night. Inuyasha killed it, but he's not told anyone of a threatening message the thing's successor left outside your room. Nor has he mentioned the theft of those interesting devices around your wrists and a rather cryptic note, I might add."

"My bracelets were stolen?" Kagome reflexively glanced down at her dream-bare arms. "When was this?"

The priestess tilted her head forward. Only later would Kagome realize why it had looked so unsettling: her hair didn't move with her. "Not only stolen, but left for the demon woman to find, two evenings ago."

A shudder of something strange rippled across the little room, bringing both their heads around. "Nothing to worry about," Kikyou said quietly after a few seconds. "The Jewel alerted Inuyasha to several lower demons passing through the barrier on the east. The monk and my sister's wards will hold them till he arrives to dispose of them."

There was something familiar about the creepy feeling she was getting, but, as usual, her attention was diverted. "Dispose of them?" Maybe it was just the way it was said, but the phrase somehow didn't sit well with Kagome. "What if they're friendly, like Shimoko?"

"That woman is not friendly. She is curious, bored, and finds this place amusing, but she is a demon and _not _friendly. You'd do well to understand the difference between being befriended and being made a plaything." There was no bite to the words, only inflexibility. "And few lesser demons can afford to befriend humans and hanyou for their own entertainment. These will not be bringing gifts or dispensing medical advice in my sister's place." _That _had an edge to it. "Do you understand?"

Kagome tamped down her resentment at the implication that they were being used, even if it might partly be true: she wasn't going to convince the priestess of anything, and pointing out that her obstinacy had been a major cause of her death would be hitting below the belt. _Not to mention she'd find some way to kick my ass for it, and I need to be able to talk to her. _"You said Inuyasha got messages. What did they say?"

A third smile, completely devoid of humor. "Would you rather know about a few scratches on wood and dirt, or the things that wrote them?"

"_Things?" _Even in dream-voice, that came out thin with incredulity. "You mean there's more than two…no, three of them? Sango killed one, you said Inuyasha killed another last night…"

"Even in your state – or perhaps because your sensitivity in other areas was heightened – you felt the Jewel resist Naraku's effort to use its power, and fail. That was likely applied to the creation of another kugutsu."

The matter-of-factness with which this was cushioned kept it from sinking in properly right away. All Kagome could muster in immediate reaction was a feeble "……Oh."

Kikyou straightened again, and her air of serene patience made it clear she was waiting for something. Kagome had no clue what for—after all, they were in a rather private sphere, and it wasn't likely that even Nara

_Waitonefuckingminute! _"…Naraku?"

Kikyou nodded slightly.

"…Is alive, you say."

"In a sense."

"…Is _alive_? And you're sure about it?"

"For simplicity's sake, yes."

Kagome scratched her head out of habit, barely noticing the lack of sensation in either fingers or scalp. "…You know, I've been saying so for two months now. You'd think this would be less of a shock." She rubbed her face, grimacing as the weirdness of touch without feeling sank in. _Not even gonna ask how long she's known. _"But…you kept saying you definitely killed him. What really happened, then?"

"He must have had some contingency plan in case his assault on the castle failed—or perhaps it was deliberate, an elaborate ruse all along." Her voice dropped, nearly grating in suppressed anger. "The monster somehow planted a portion of himself in a place he knew he would be safe, some hideaway none of us would suspect."

A second, stronger ripple of the Jewel's power intruded just as Kagome was ready with another question, startling her into letting Kikyou finish. "I should have known. I can't confirm it, but I have confirmed enough of my suspicions to be sure he is among us. Though it was only a guess, you were right once more."

Kagome knew she should ask what had just happened, but the current topic was too important: she wouldn't get diverted _this _time. "So, do you know where he's hiding, or not?"

"Most likely," Kikyou said in the tone of voice one usually hears in reply to questions about the weather or topics of similarly little import. "I've no idea how he could have managed it without being detected, but that possibility is the only way he could've survived this long."

It soon became apparent that that was all she had to say on the matter, and it was all Kagome could do not to explode with everything she'd just buried. Compromising, she asked her next question so politely that it dripped with sarcasm. "Do you mean that you know where we can find him, hopefully kill the evil bastard for good _and _break the curse, and you're just having too much fun keeping secrets to—"

"A solid point. I apologize." The sincerity of Kikyou's words alone was enough to make Kagome jerk upright in sudden, wild elation. Kikyou shrugged slightly, but no retraction followed; Kagome nearly sagged with incredulous relief. _My God, she _means _it! She really does! All I had to do was call her out face to face and_

"After all, the monk has more pressing concerns now than a cursed hand. To leave him with it would be worst than inconsiderate."

_she just…what? _The flow of happy thought slammed to a numb halt. "Wait—_monk_?"

The priestess nodded shortly. "That's right, you've never seen the Kazaana. An impressive weapon, but more dangerous than useful now. It'd hardly be possible for him to use it against Naraku as things stand, either. Too inconvenient." Kikyou narrowed her eyes at her reincarnation. "Or do you think the slayer would prefer he remain the way he is? Is your memory quite _that _faulty?"

_The slayer……oh, God, Sango, I forgot— _Kagome's hands curled into fists. Sickening frustration at her crushed hopes shifted targets, from Kikyou to Naraku, rising steadily till she fancied she could see the "air" humming with it. Kikyou might have messed with her mind, yes, but it was Naraku who had made her this way, put them in this situation in the first place, _and_ put Inuyasha through immeasurable heartache all along. If Kagome was going to blame somebody, it wouldn't be the dead priestess.

Besides that, he was responsible for Sango and Miroku's lost time, too, the source of the ultimate tragedy that was all they had to look forward to in their relationship….And when Kagome suddenly remembered one last thing, how Naraku had already ruined what should be a happy occasion_—_

That did it. If Kikyou knew how to kill the source of nearly all their problems, Kagome was going to find out _now. _"Where's he hiding, Kikyou? If you know, tell me, and if you don't, then tell me what you do know instead of jerking us around!"

Kikyou raised her eyebrows at the younger woman's hissing tone. The emotional force behind it was considerable, to say the least, and she was fleetingly sorry that Kagome had had to be born in this ignorant era, an utter waste of astounding potential.

…Well, considering the circumstances, she believed herself excused in being sorry the girl had been born at all.

The priestess sized Kagome up carefully. "If I tell you, what will you do? Ask him politely to leave you be?"

Kagome almost took the bait, but thought better of it at the last second, earning a flicker of Kikyou's approval. "Even if he threw the last fight to you and Inuyasha, if he's just a piece of his old self or whatever now, he can't be that hard for Inuyasha to kill, can he? And you can use the Jewel to—"

"I cannot." Again, Kagome couldn't suspect Kikyou of lying, because her bitterness was almost palpable, seeping across her awareness like spilled oil. "It will listen to me regarding…certain things, but manipulating or controlling it directly has fallen out of my power."

Silence hung over them. Kikyou's eyes narrowed slightly. "If _you _were to try, you might be able to root him out. The problem is destroying him without harming bystanders or allowing him to slip into some new hole from which he couldn't be lured out."

Whatever she had been expecting, that wasn't quite it. "Me? But…I thought I wasn't supposed to use the Jewel. Kaede said so, anyway—and besides, I have no clue what to do. Can't I learn how to do it with my normal powers?" Kagome tried to ignore another mental image of herself in a superhero costume lest Kikyou see it and think she was completely insane.

Kikyou folded her hands; if she'd noticed, she gave no indication. "I've spoken ahead of myself. First, you must be sure of Naraku's location without alerting him, or else he may take action before we are ready. Choosing the time and place of battle is the key to victory, Kagome. You must remember that."

"Okay." Kagome steeled herself. "So, _where is he_?"

"Perhaps hiding in plain sight. …Calm down. If I told you, you would give yourself away." She made a gesture that could have been placation, impatience, or both. "If you wish, you may go to the Tree and speak with it directly. As I said, it has helped you discreetly more than once already."

"But the last time I touched it, nothing happened," Kagome protested.

"Because you did not ask." The priestess shook her head. "It may be just as well. The Jewel can be very dangerous, even to the experienced. Kaede was right in cautioning you not to use its power directly. A better course would be to remain alert and gather information on Naraku within the curse's limits, as you seem to have been able to do somehow."

"I plead the Fifth," Kagome muttered. _Laptop. Maybe I should use that thing again sometime…if I can think of anything they haven't already told me or just won't._

"Now that I think of it," Kikyou continued, as if Kagome had kept her thoughts to herself, "the demon woman may be very helpful. When she returns with the 'test' she was so interested in, see if you can pick her brains about Naraku, or persuade her mother to come and tell us herself."

"Ah ha!" _The test! I remembered something! Score! …That makes, what, 3-245, her favor…? Anyway— _"You said to look into family ties nearby or something, right? Then Shimoko said we might be descended from Sesshoumaru's human…friend, or whatever she was. How'd you know?"

"Know?" the priestess repeated blandly.

"Yeah, you said that before we started talking about my family with her and it came up," Kagome pointed out. "But Fluffy picked Rin up after the curse started. How'd you know?"

It could have been her imagination, but for a minute, Kagome could have sworn she sensed confusion. Then Kikyou got to her feet, half-turning with an air of finality. "Inuyasha will return soon. You had best be awake to smooth matters with the monk before he does." She held out one slender hand, fingers poised to snap in a gesture that made Kagome feel distinctly uncomfortable: _she _did the exact same thing sometimes, down to the curve of the wrist. "Do be careful. Keep Inuyasha close…"

Her tone became glacial. "…though one would prefer you not keep him _too _close…say, in your bed."

_Hey! _"For your information, I never—"

Snap 

The sound echoed dimly in Kagome's ears as her eyes popped open, mind fully awake.

"Kagome!" Shippou leapt onto the bed, throwing his tiny arms around her neck before she had time to work up proper indignation. "You're awake!"

"Morning, Shippou-chan," she said around his hair, sitting up and scooping him into her arms for a hug. Thankfully, the stuff on her shoulders was still working, even though the room was bright enough to indicate she'd slept several hours. "What's up?"

"You missed it! A bunch of bat demons came in 'cause they were curious about the castle, and Inuyasha was about to fight with 'em before he made Kirara take me back here." The kit paced down the bed, folded his hands into his sleeves, and then removed them in order to pet the still-sleeping calico on Kagome's other side. "And Miroku's mad at Inuyasha 'cause Inuyasha wanted to wake Sango up and take her with him before he left. Thenhe wanted Miroku to come down and watch you, but Miroku said he'd rather stay with Sango."

"I see…" Kagome couldn't blame either of them. Unless… "Did Miroku tell Inuyasha _why_ Sango needed to sleep?"

The little demon shook his head as he plopped down in her lap and began playing with one of her bracelets, sliding it up and down her arm as far as it would go. "He just said Inuyasha should bring you up there, 'cause Kohaku's not supposed to get up, either, and Souta's keeping him company."

"Well, that makes sense." This didn't bode well, as she was obviously still in her own room, and a glance around told her something was very wrong. "What did Inuyasha say?"

Shippou heaved a long-suffering sigh. "He told Miroku he wasn't reliable enough to take care of everyone at once, Miroku told him to get his head out of his ass, and Inuyasha told _him _he hoped Miroku would be reborn as a fishing worm."

"Splendid." _Stupid male egos. Why can't they just communicate whenever it's actually important? _She indicated the blank wall across the room with one thumb. "Is that why the door's gone?"

"Yep!" He nodded emphatically. "Inuyasha changed the rooms around so it looks like yours is still there, but anyone who opens the shoji sees a blank wall. But he let me stay in here to keep you company, plus he did something to make sure we'd have enough air."

"How _thoughtful_ of him." If Kikyou hadn't told her about the kugutsu and the messages, Kagome would have done something drastic; as it was, Shippou shrank back a little at her expression. At least that explained the second Jewel usage she'd felt. "Did it ever occur to him that sealing me up might not be the most effective way to make sure I don't get damaged? Or that I might not _like _it, or that I can get out anyway?"

Shippou's eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah! He told me to tell you not to, or he'd get Sango to tie you to a pillar." He deflated just as fast, tugging at her bracelet mournfully. "If you know how to get out, you're probably gonna do it anyway, aren't you?"

Her first reaction was an unequivocal _Hell yes_, but the sudden smell of food – breakfast had been set up on the floor, only partly consumed – and the kit's huge, dewy green eyes weakened her resolve to a halfhearted, "Well, yeah, but not right this second. He's just trying to make sure I'm safe, I guess, even if he thought _this _was the best way to do it. First, let's make sure the food doesn't go to waste."

She was glad for her decision, particularly after a long, relaxed meal in which she had only Shippou and the snoozing kitten for company. The relative quiet was the perfect opportunity to think over what Kikyou had told her and weigh her options; it also gave her time to spend with Shippou, who rarely had Kagome all to himself.

"Inuyasha really doesn't like your cat," he commented at one point. "He said you should just keep the little one instead and let him eat Buyo."

"He did, did he?" Kagome snorted around a mouthful of rice as something hit her. "Just for that, I think I _will_ go ahead and adopt the kitten. Her new name's Inu-chan."

"And you're gonna use it around him every chance you get, right?" The kit sighed at her cheery nod. "If you say so."

"I do." She swallowed the last of her breakfast and set the chopsticks down. "I need to get changed. …Is Kirara still here, or did she go back to Inuyasha?"

"No, she's up with Miroku, I think. Why?"

_Eeexcellent. _"No reason. C'mon, let's get going."

* * *

"Who is it?" Miroku asked suspiciously, staff jangling on the other side of the shoji.

"It's me and Shippou…and a kitty. Let us in." _Geez, someone's in a bad mood. …Not that I can really blame him. _

The shoji slid open. Kagome stepped through and knelt, letting Shippou hop down and placing the kitten on the tatami. "Morning…or afternoon, everyone."

"Good day, Kagome-sama." The monk smiled and bowed, almost keeping his weariness from his voice. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, thanks." It was true, even if her memory of last night was still fuzzy at best. _Any time, Jewel. …Or not, if it means knowing how I sounded… _"You?"

"How come you're not hung over?" Souta demanded. He was wearing more borrowed clothing, sitting next to Kohaku and bent over a sheet of paper on which they'd been playing some kind of game. "You and Akemi are weird. You drink more than five guys put together and you don't even puke."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Kagome stuck her tongue out at him, then smiled at Kohaku. "How're you feeling?"

"Much better, Kagome-sama. I should be out with Inuyasha-sama, but…" The slayer touched the bandage wound around his temples.

"Inuyasha will be fine," she said hastily, scooping up the kitten as it started to climb Sango's sleeping form and waving one of its paws at Miroku to distract him. "Souta, why don't you show Shippou how to play whatever it is you guys are doing?"

Kirara nosed the shoji leading to Inuyasha's room open and mewed a greeting, ambling across the threshold to plop down and watch as the boys hunched over the paper. To Kagome's relief, the calico watched the cat demon for a few curious moments, then insisted upon being put back down to explore the room with no hissing or other signs of fear.

"A new acquisition, Kagome-sama?" Miroku extended a hand to the kitten, which took the gesture as an invitation and leapt onto his lap. "Friendly, isn't he?"

"She. All calicos are female, except one or two like Buyo." A glance at the boys confirmed that their attention was fully occupied. Kagome dropped her voice. "I heard what happened."

Miroku stiffened, gloved hand going still on the calico's head. "Shippou told you about…this morning?"

"Yeah. You know, you could've just told Inuyasha, and he would've understood, right?" Kagome folded her arms. "I know he was a jerk about it, but—"

"How he would have reacted never worried me," the monk interrupted. The lack of courtesy itself was more telling than his apparent calm, as he stroked the calico briefly and glanced at Sango. "Did she tell you?"

"No, I figured it out sometime last night." Kagome leaned forward. "Who else did Shimoko tell?"

"No one. And I intend to keep it that way…" He pulled his hand away as the kitten tried to paw at his prayer beads. "…until we've discussed it fully. I've no doubt Inuyasha would have understood, but the more something is said around here, the more likely everyone is to know."

"I know what you mean." Inuyasha probably would have overreacted, and the odds of no one overhearing him were nil. "So, the servants actually haven't figured it out yet?" That was hard to believe, given their track record. But if they had, there would have been a steady stream of people in and out of the room already. "I see how you'd want to keep it secret for as long as you can. It would be great if you could till—oh!" Her hand flew to her mouth. "That's right!"

Miroku raised his eyebrows, and the boys looked over at her exclamation.

"I just talked with Kikyou—" She paused belatedly. No reaction, as usual. _Convenient. _"And she said…the guy who cursed you is probably still alive here somewhere."

The monk's reaction was immediate: he nearly leapt to his feet, staff at the ready and face darkened in anticipation. "You mean to say—oops." The kitten was clinging to the front of his robes like a furry fly. He knelt again, unhooking the tiny claws. "Elaborate, please," he said tightly.

"What's going on?" Souta wanted to know.

Kagome filled them in on as much as she could, flapping her hand at Souta when he started to ask what she talking about. "So, as soon as Shimoko gets back, we'll ask her if Kagura will come and tell us about her dad, so we can figure out whether Kikyou's big secret is right or not," she concluded. _Assuming she'll ever share it, of course._

"Are you sure we couldn't just find him now, instead of having to wait?" Kohaku's freckles stood out slightly as his face paled. "Someone else could get hurt or even killed."

"I feel the same way, Kohaku-kun, but if Kikyou's not sure of what to do, then we should probably listen to her," Kagome admitted. She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "She also mentioned I could go to the Tree. Then she said it was dangerous, so that's probably not really an option. …But if I was really careful, maybe…"

"Kagome-sama?" Miroku inquired, breaking off her muttering.

"Oh…nothing. I just thought of something that might help." She got to her feet. "Shippou-chan, you stay here. Kirara, would you come outside with me?"

"Inuyasha would be less than pleased if you left the castle before he returned, Kagome-sama," the monk reminded her. "You were attacked just last night, and Inuyasha said you've been threatened as well. There could also be more bat demons in the forest."

"Yeah, but she said he was almost done with them. Besides, I _need_ to go out to the river…" Kagome indicated her reddened shoulders, tugging at one strap of her tank top. "And Kirara can watch out in case anything tries to surprise me. Right?" The fire-cat mewed an affirmative. "Right. I'll be right back. Later!" She took off at a trot, ignoring Miroku's calls for her to stop.

It was a long shot, she knew, and possibly a very stupid idea, but if she had any chance of getting the Jewel to help her find Naraku and break Miroku's _and _Inuyasha's curses, Kagome was going to take it before Inuyasha could come back and probably stop her. If it didn't work, he could kill her at his leisure, and if it did…

The possibility alone was enough to banish most of her doubts. Still, she wasn't a total idiot, she reasoned; she wasn't going to try to use the Jewel to fix everything, only to ask for its help. Also, mindful that this could very well turn into a bad horror movie – _The stupid sunburned heroine goes out alone to face the monster because she just knows she can do everything by herself! …Except I really am the only one who can do this… –_ Kagome did take a few precautions. First, Kirara changed forms and swept the area around the castle for any suspicious sights or smells before Kagome climbed onto her narrow back from the third-floor balcony and flew down to the edge of the forest. When a second sweep revealed nothing out of the ordinary, they stopped by the weapons shed so Kagome could retrieve a bow and arrows, the one that must have belonged to Kikyou. _When was the last time I used these? Seems like forever ago… _

Last, just in case, she ducked into a little-used side courtyard, closed her eyes, and focused on the small clearing in which the Tree stood. There was the Tree itself, the sun-dappled grass surrounding it, birds chirping companionably and fluttering around in search of bugs, a hideously mangled corpse, some pretty scattered le—

_Whoooooa. What the…! _Her mind's eye veered back to the bloodstained heap near the biggest clump of roots. By the shape of its ears and eyes, it had to be one of the bat demons, definitely looking the worse for wear. _Ewww. There's no way I'm going over there till that thing's gone. I don't even want to think what it smells like…!_

That was one decision easily made, at least for today. Kagome withdrew her mind as fast as she could and opened her eyes, tugging at the scarf she'd used to tie her hair back. "Scratch that, Kirara. We might just be going to the river after all." A slight letdown, though she had to admit it was probably for the best in the long run; if she could convince Inuyasha to accompany her there, it'd be safer, and he wouldn't have an excuse to box her up like an oversized doll again.

_Oh, well. I can still go for a quick swim. _Kagome turned to leave, hesitated as something in the shade caught her attention, and startled Kirara with a sudden clap of her hands. "Hey! Bike!"

Yesterday's events had thoroughly distracted her from Kouga's present, which had evidently been wheeled over here and leaned against the wall by one of the braver servants and left where it wouldn't hurt anyone. The cat demon rumbled curiously as Kagome pulled it away from the corner, threw a leg over the side, and pedaled a few feet, giggling in sheer delight. "I can't believe I forgot about this thing!"

Nearly everything about the bicycle was perfect, of course, as it was brand new. The hand brakes worked a little too well in particular, as demonstrated by her near-tumble when she squeezed them a trifle too hard and just managed to pull aside and catch herself on one leg. "Whoops. Better fix the seat, but other than that…see, Kirara? Bike!"

The fire-cat didn't, really, but waited patiently and maintained a lookout while the excited human girl fiddled with the strange device, climbing on and off several times between fiddles till she was satisfied. "We're just gonna go to the river for a minute, then come back here before Inuyasha has an aneurysm," Kagome explained, hopping back on and pedaling very slowly towards the forest. "I'll stay out of the trees so you won't have to dive in or anything, okay?"

That was fine with Kirara, who launched herself into the air as Kagome pushed as hard as she could, rising on her calves and hunching over to get more speed. "Pardon me!" she called out to a few men lingering by a woodpile, and was rewarded with three utterly priceless looks as they turned and dove out of her way.

_What do you want to bet they tell their wives Kagome-sama has some kind of metal demon for a pet now? Or maybe they think it's part of my body or something… _She'd have to explain it later and stave off some very awkward questions from the kids.

For now, though, a few seconds of riding, and she was in heaven. The rush of wind in her ears, quiet clicking of spokes and slight pain in her feet from the bumpy-soled pedals poking through her sandals brought back a flood of happy memories: bike rides with her mother, or friends, or just by herself, enjoying the respite from a zoo-like household. If only Yoshio hadn't accidentally ruined his wife's old bike…

_No point worrying about it_, Kagome repeated firmly. Not when she was able to enjoy some time to herself for a little while, with a stretch of clear, sparkling river to her right, the forest to her left, Kirara swooping here and there to assure her safety, and nothing to impede a perfect ride.

…Except her own mind, of course. It occurred to her almost the moment she started humming one of her favorite tunes – _I'd sing the words, but I might get someone in trouble – _that Kikyou didn't seem to look forward to Naraku's demise as much as she would've thought. _Then again, once the curse is broken, Inuyasha could…no, he said he'd…join her anyway, and I doubt a little thing like that would convince the big dope not to. _Her jaw tightened. _It's not fair. None of this is fair to anyone. I wish, I wish, I _wish _there was something I could do to—_

"Help!"

The tires screeched a faint protest, skidding over slick grass and shuddering as Kagome threw her leg over and nearly capsized, putting a hand on Kirara's ruff when the fire-cat landed next to her. "You heard that, too?"

"Kagome-sama?" A man's voice, deep but weak with pain and exhaustion, drifted from somewhere amongst the trees. "Is that you, Kagome-sama?"

"Who's there?" Kagome nudged the bike's kickstand down and advanced a few steps, nearly stumbling as Kirara moved to block her. "What is it, Kirara? Is it a trap or something?"

Kirara sniffed the air suspiciously, eyes narrowed. Then she relaxed, but only slightly, padding cautiously towards the voice's source and permitting Kagome to follow.

Less than ten feet into the trees, Kirara paused again, head turning this way and that, growling her displeasure with something. Kagome saw why when the cat demon moved aside to let her by. "Oh, no…" She rushed to a clump of low bushes and dropped to her knees, addressing a servant partly hidden underneath. "Are you all right?"

It was one of the dumbest things she could've possibly asked, considering the poor man was wheezing over a fresh-looking gash that ran from left ankle to a few inches below the knee. "A bat demon," he gasped, dragging himself out into the open. Even Kagome could smell a heavy, unpleasant musk around him, besides the sick-sweet blood and a scattered pile of wood he must have been collecting before the attack. "I ran, but…"

Kirara circled around him, keeping an eye on Kagome as she sniffed out a trail of blood leading back into the forest towards the east. Satisfied that the servant was telling the truth and his attacker was nowhere nearby, she came back and sat down next to Kagome with a thump of her heavy tails, watching the area and the servant in turn.

Slightly reassured, Kagome swallowed and bent over to examine the wound carefully. She wasn't sure, but she thought it seemed fairly deep. "You should get to Kaede as soon as possible for this," she said, glancing up. "Where else are you hurt? Can you walk at all?"

"Only my leg, Kagome-sama, but I can't move." The man smiled uneasily, bowing low over his outstretched leg. He was young, and exceptionally handsome—or would've been if not for the pain stretching his features and the blood liberally smeared on his clothes. "It was wounded, and…surprised me, so…"

"It's okay. Just let me tie this up for you, and then Kirara can take you back, all right?" Kagome tried to smile back and undid her scarf, shaking her head at his embarrassed protests. "Don't worry about it. You're lucky we were out here." _I thought Inuyasha got them all… _Then she remembered the corpse by the Tree. _Ick. I guess he didn't. Stupid wards didn't work that great, either._

"Indeed," the man said politely. She heard him grunt in pain as he removed his kimono and handed it to her. "Please don't ruin your things on my account, Kagome-sama."

"It's not that big a deal, just a scarf. We have to stop the bleeding before you can walk around without passing out." His voice was a little familiar; no wonder, considering how many servants she'd only encountered once or twice. Funny, she would've remembered a face as attractive as his… _I must be getting old. Or Inuyasha's just ruined other guys for me. _Kagome gave him another smile, then patted a spot near her hip. "See right here? Press it, hard, and it should help for a little while."

Dubiously, he followed suit, holding the artery down as she looked at her hands for a moment, clumsily elevated his ankle onto her shoulder – _ow ow ow _– and got to work. "Thank you again, Kagome-sama. You're just as kind as your predecessor."

Kagome pulled the kimono just a shade tighter, forcing her smile back out. _Pleeease don't make me hear about Kikyou. Not right now._ "It's nothing, really. I just know a little about first aid, not much about healing or anything." Enough to know she was probably doing something wrong, anyway, and that she felt sick to her stomach. _I bet Kikyou would've just dived right in, no wanting to puke or anything. _

The man bobbed his head as though she'd said it aloud, watching his free hand move idly in the dirt—Kagome couldn't blame him, as she was feeling a little queasy herself. "She was very skilled with wounds and fevers alike. My brother Taro – the one with the scar above his eye – always said she saved as many human lives as demons she'd killed."

"I see." Kagome mopped a trail of sweat off her brow with one forearm. Her shoulders were starting to tingle unpleasantly again, particularly the right, reminding her that she'd managed to go out without sunscreen yet again. _Just in case I didn't feel stupid enough…_

"Beautiful, too," he went on happily, apparently unaware that her smile had devolved into pressed lips and gritted teeth. "So womanly and dignified. But she always had a pretty smile for the children or her mistress or little sister."

Kagome's hands almost slipped. _Bet I look more like a psychopath at the moment. And how come he can talk **now? **_She gave up the smile in favor of an intent frown. "Is that so?"

She could almost hear his rapid nod in his voice, which grew lighter and more admiring as he spoke. "We men used to find excuses to do chores near the shrine just for a look at her. It always made our day whenever she said hello or came to ask for extra wood. Even Inuyasha-sama felt it. Not that we could blame him, of course—except out of jealousy." He chuckled. "I'll prevail upon your kindness in not telling him so."

Kirara yawned, looking like any bored housecat except for her tusks. Kagome devoutly hoped her patient would either shut up or find a new topic, as the wound was nearly wrapped and she now felt about two inches tall. "Almost done here…"

"Ah, you should have seen her at the great battle, Kagome-sama." She snapped her scarf around the makeshift bandage, twisted the ends into a knot, and yanked as tight as she could. Luckily – or was it? – the man didn't seem to notice. "I'd never seen a woman so skilled with a weapon. Did you know she struck the final blow? Inuyasha-sama is very impressive, but no one could ever possibly surpass _her_. She was amazing, nearly perfect at everything she turned a hand to. Such a horrible tragedy, whatever it was that killed her. We've mourned her ever since. No one expects anyone to ever replace her, either. …Isn't that her bow you have there, Kagome-sama, if I may ask?"

"How does that feel? Any better?" For once, Kagome agreed wholeheartedly with the weight of the curse in the air, as if it also knew damn well who he meant and didn't like it.

"Marvelous, much better." The servant winced as she eased the leg to the forest floor. "Thank you so much for the trouble."

"Now, you should probably take Kirara and go see Kaede," Kagome started, but choked on a squeak of alarm as he suddenly hauled himself upright on his good knee. "No! I didn't wrap it that well, you shouldn't move around yet—"

"I'll be perfectly fine for the distance back, Kagome-sama," he said firmly, grabbing a longer piece of wood and using it as a short walking stick. "From what I understand, you need your escort much more than I do." He smiled apologetically, wobbling on the stick so that she almost had to grab him to prevent a fall. "The demon that attacked me can't still be alive, and if it is, Inuyasha-sama would have taken care of it by now. He's quite adept at disposing of things, after all."

Kagome blinked, unsure of how to respond to that odd tone."Are you absolutely sure? Let us walk with you, at least."

He spoke almost curtly now. "No, no, Kagome-sama. I would only slow you down, and it's not safe for you to be encumbered when you're already in danger. Nothing will bother to attack me like this, and it's only a few steps to the castle." He bowed deeply from the waist. "If I've intruded upon your kindness enough to worry you, I'll make sure you receive word of my condition soon. Otherwise, please don't trouble yourself."

_Wow, someone's serious about not bugging me. _"I'd still feel better if—"

"Good day, Kagome-sama." Another bow, a brief scrabble in the dirt with his stick, and the servant was hobbling towards the castle, making fairly good time despite his injury.

"…Huh." Kagome scratched her itchy shoulder, yelping at a stab of pain. Then it occurred to her that her hands were spattered liberally with dried blood, and it suddenly took all her willpower not to be sick. She'd seen bad cuts before, not to mention Inuyasha's little adventure a couple of new moons back, but today had been weird and highly emotional and she had PMS anyway, and now this poor good-looking idiot had had to get talkative and all but tell her she was useless even as she was probably saving his life? _Honestly! "Please don't trouble yourself" my ass! I saw that look he gave me…_

It was a little too much, too fast. She wanted to sit down, but there also happened to be a great deal of blood on the ground. "Let's go wash my hands off, shall we?" she suggested brightly, lurching towards the river. Kirara perceived the problem instantly and managed to nudge herself under Kagome, who was content to slump over, sidesaddle, for the rest of the short trip. "Thanks…"

Cold water helped somewhat, providing another shock for her senses to focus on over the urge to cry or be sick. It took almost two minutes to get all the blood off her skin and from beneath her nails, time in which she was able to calm herself down. _No surprise he thinks I'm a crappy substitute for Kikyou, but he didn't have to go and freaking _tell _me so. …Well, that's his problem, not mine. I shouldn't give half a crap what anyone else thinks. Inuyasha doesn't go around rubbing my face in it, and that's all that matters. _

The thought eased the knot of tension in her chest almost entirely; Kagome had to smile, remembering how he had fussed over her that morning in his own irascible way. She still couldn't remember most of last night, except for someone singing very prettily – probably Shimoko, big surprise – and a few other stray bits. The most vivid impression of those she could dredge up was Inuyasha holding her while something or another happened, down to his muscles moving along her back and a shoulder against her cheek; it was hard to even try to feel bad about the servant when her brain was replaying that moment of clarity on constant loop, after all, and she wasn't particularly inclined to try for very long.

If the warm imprint in her mattress when she woke up that morning had been any indication, Inuyasha must have slept next to her to make sure she stayed safe, too. The bedclothes would smell like him for at least another night or so… _Maybe I should get drunk every night, if it'll get him to camp out with me. _

That probably wasn't the wisest option, but it was surprisingly hard to let go of. All dirty joking aside, sleeping with him right there against her had been a little hot, but made her feel more than secure enough to make up for a little sweat. …More than secure, actually, but she'd best not dwell on that part. The cold water proved quite helpful there, too.

It was about time to go back inside. Kagome scooped up a few handfuls and threw them over her shoulders, then splashed more onto her face for good measure. She would probably have to stay inside a couple more days at this rate, particularly if she didn't get back before Inuyasha did. But her luck today had been respectably bad already…maybe it would give her a break now?

"_There_ you are!"

_Sigh. _The angry presence behind her wasn't enough of a surprise to elicit much more than a mental head shake. Instead, Kagome found herself chuckling a little as she got to her feet. "Hold on a second, Inuyasha. If you're gonna kill me, at least let me dry off first."

"What the…?" He turned her around with a lightly unbreakable grip on her upper arm, flinching at a red smear on her shoulder. "What happened? Where else—"

"Inuyasha," Kagome said firmly, smiling apologetically and laying a hand on his in hopes of calming him down, "I'm _fine_. I know it was stupid to go out, but I took Kirara with me, see?" He glanced at the fire-cat, then glared back at her. "This isn't mine. We found someone who was hurt by a demon, and I fixed his leg for him. There was a lot of blood involved, but none of it came from me. I'm sorry for worrying you. Let's go back now, okay?"

If anything, that seemed to make him angrier, though he was careful to keep it in his voice and out of his hold on her arm. "You're _sorry_? The bouzu said the runt told you why I wanted you to stay put, and you not only decided to run around on your own, you did it _outside_, when you knew I wasn't there to make sure nothing came along and ate you? Where the fuck is your brain?"

"I said I was sorry, Inuyasha." Kagome tried to tug away. "Let go so I can get this stuff off."

"Keh." He released her and shoved his hands into his sleeves. "How the hell am I supposed to keep you safe if you won't even listen to me and stay still for half a fucking hour?"

"I didn't stay in my room because I'm not a prisoner, as you've said more than once, and I did bring Kirara with me, plus a bow and some arrows," she answered patiently, rinsing the last of the rust-brown and wincing as she patted more water on it to soothe the irritation. "I know you're trying to protect me, and like I said, I know it was stupid to go out, but I had a good reason."

"And what was that? To mess around with that thing?" he snapped as Kagome got up and headed for her bike. "What the hell is it, anyway? It smells like the wolf."

"He gave it to me a couple days ago, and no, that's _not _why I came out." She paused, one foot raised to free the kickstand, and lowered it to turn a flat stare on him. "…I didn't come out to see Kouga, either, so don't even try it."

Inuyasha shut his mouth with a muffled click. "Well, where's the guy you were talking about? I don't smell any blood. Just how far from the castle did you run off?" He hadn't come across any wounded servants on his way out here, but that could be attributed to the fact that he'd sent himself directly to the river upon hearing where she was and located her within seconds of walking downstream.

"It was right over there." Kagome jabbed a finger at the forest. Her stores of patience and understanding were starting to run out. "He was hurt by one of the bat demons, and he went back by himself because he didn't want to _bother _me once he was done telling me how much better someone else was. Go over there and smell for yourself."

That made him pause for a moment, though he wisely said nothing but "Feh." Gesturing for her to follow – which she did, but not before replying with another gesture he didn't catch – Inuyasha came up the slope and into the woods, wrinkling his nose at a sudden whiff of several combined odors. The wind had been blowing the wrong way at the river, but now he could easily discern human blood, demon, and fresh-cut wood mingling at one spot not far into the trees. "Shit…"

"He was in pretty bad shape," Kagome agreed at his elbow. "For a second, I thought it might be a kugutsu, but Kirara went over it and didn't find anything, so…"

"Good. I know who he was, too. I woulda thought he'd be smarter than that, makin' a demon attack him, but that was his fault." Mollified, Inuyasha picked up the forgotten bow and handed it to her, slinging the quiver over his own shoulder. "Nice to know you're not _that _stupid. You're still lucky it hadn't followed him or anything."

Kagome knew she should point out that the man hadn't provoked the attack, but it seemed like a waste of breath on someone who didn't deserve it. Besides, now she was curious. "What happened with the bats, anyway? You don't look like it was that hard a fight."

He smirked, good humor restored at the reminder. "Fight? It was a joke. I barely had to use Tetsusaiga before their leader called it off." They headed back to where Kirara was sitting near the bike, Inuyasha glancing behind them just in case. "Got one of 'em down, and suddenly they were 'only curious.'"

She laughed at his high-pitched mimicry. "So, the leader was a woman? Or a cross-dresser?"

"Nah, it was some old woman. Not just that, but a hanyou. Creepy as hell." He grimaced as Kagome stopped next to the bike to pet Kirara's massive head. "Said she'd be back soon. I told her no, but the stupid bitch ignored me."

"A hanyou?" Kagome raised her eyebrows as she turned the bike towards the castle, freed it and started walking, allowing Kirara the chance to spring into the air and scout ahead first. "I'd like to meet her."

"You wish." Inuyasha eyed the bike again, visibly tried to restrain his curiosity, and failed. "Okay, you never answered me. What the hell _is _that thing?" He did a double take as she threw a leg over it, hopped onto the seat, and pushed off, sending girl and metal device flying off as one. "OI!"

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha, did you say something?" Kagome called over her shoulder.

"Dammit, wench!" A few long strides, and he was up alongside her. She smiled sweetly, then began pedaling harder. "Stop that!"

"Why?" Now he was walking faster; spurred by perverse enjoyment of his confusion, Kagome rose and urged the bike into its maximum speed. "I'm only human. We're allowed to cheat once in a while."

"That so?" Inuyasha darted ahead and just to the side. They were heading rapidly towards the side yards at the back of the castle; luckily, few servants were out in these unshaded areas at the hottest part of the day. The hanyou smirked again, dropping back alongside her with studied carelessness. "You're still slow."

She jerked the wheel towards him, forcing him to hop back, then straightened out and gave him a wicked grin. "So what? You're still twitchy."

"Well, you're still…" He gave her a long once-over, cutting it short when he realized how much he was enjoying the view. "…sunburned."

"And you're still unoriginal," Kagome promptly fired back, grinning wider.

"You're still wrong." The steps were just ahead. She sank back down, rear on the seat and legs out to either side to let her momentum peter out, and Inuyasha also slowed to a walk. _Damn, that was almost kind of fun._

"You're still not fair." It would have been ideal to pull around him and keep going, but Kagome's lungs were burning, and the prickly feeling of sweat on her face and shoulders was more than persuasive enough. "Man…I used to ride for hours without getting tired."

"Then you're still a weakling. All you have to do on that thing is sit on your ass and move your feet." Inuyasha watched her closely to make sure she had enough strength to get off without hurting herself: her heart was going a little too fast for his liking.

"That's not a 'still.' If I can't do it anymore, then—ow!" Sure enough, one ankle scraped the inside of the back tire as she kicked the metal stand into place, and Inuyasha caught her in time to assist her over to the nearest wall for support. "Look what you made me do!"

"Don't try to blame that on me, wench. Lemme see…" He crouched and picked up her left foot, turning it to examine the thick red line rising across her Achilles' heel; she had to resist the urge to make a whinnying sound. "Keh. Your skin is like paper, you know that?"

"Is not. Paper doesn't get red and crispy in the sun," she muttered, removing the bow and setting it next to the quiver he tossed to the ground. _And it doesn't care if you touch it or not. Slight difference… _

"You'll live. C'mon, wench. I fixed your room, so you can go in and not move or hurt yourself or do anything stupid for a while." He let go and stood, holding up a finger as she tried to hobble around him to the stairs. "Just as long as you promise not to run around without me again. Kirara's good—" The fire-cat rumbled from her perch above their heads. "—but it bugs the hell out of me not knowing where you are when something's still out to kill you. Got that?"

The instinct to argue rose, then subsided quietly as the sun emerged from the clouds and her ankle began to hurt as well. Besides, she'd be lying if she said his concern wasn't touching, or that he didn't have a point about Naraku.

"Oh! Holy crap, that's right!" Pain forgotten, Kagome tugged at his sleeve urgently. "Is Sango awake yet?"

"Not when I was there last," he grumbled, suspecting a new ploy to avoid his question. "Don't try to change the—"

"Okay, okay, I promise. It doesn't matter, anyway, 'cause we might know where…the guy who started everything is hiding."

"The guy who…?" Inuyasha's eyes bulged. "You're kidding! Who said that?"

"Kikyou." Kagome nodded slowly at his moment of slack-jawed shock. "Come on. Time for a little chat with everyone."

"Yeah." One second, he was nodding at her. The next, she found herself off the ground, being rearranged comfortably in his arms while he backed up, tensing to spring upwards. "You're too weak to walk up there, so hold on."

Her mouth caught up to her brain just a second too late. "…Don't even _think_ about—"

Three strong, well-placed leaps later, Inuyasha winced at a steady stream of hissed curses from his passenger and eased her to the balcony's floor as gently as he could. "I told you to hold on."

"I told _you _not to do it in the first place. You couldn't have waited thirty seconds for me to catch my breath first?" Kagome tried to stalk inside, but her legs didn't quite want to work anymore. "Merde!"

Servants near the balcony entrance scuttled away just in time as he half-supported and grumbled back at her all the way down to his room, where she brushed his hands off and insisted upon going in without help. Inuyasha wiped his hands on his sleeves as he followed, scowling deeper when the smell of her sweat became apparent. The bracelets definitely didn't work on body fluids once they left her person, as he'd noticed last night. Of course, he'd been able to scrub that off, but now he had Kagome all over him…

"Good day, Kagome-sama," Miroku said with as much courtesy as he could muster, bowing low to hide his reaction to her flushed, angry greeting. "And Inuyasha."

"Shove it, bouzu." The hanyou seated himself next to Kagome, who fanned herself vigorously with the discarded piece of paper. None of the boys were in this room or Inuyasha's. "You awake, Sango?"

"Yes." Miroku moved over to assist her as she sat up, grimacing. "I'm fine, houshi-sama. …Kagome-chan, why were you out in the sun? And why did you let her, Inuyasha?"

"That's not his fault, Sango-chan," Kagome said quickly. "Look, now that we're all here, I've got to tell you something really important. Kikyou and I had a long talk earlier…"

That got their undivided attention, and everyone hung on every word she could relate of the conversation, even Miroku, who raised a point she'd forgotten after she finished: "You said before that Inuyasha received word from kugutsu, twice, Kagome-sama, and has yet to tell us what either said?" They turned to look at him accusingly.

"I was gonna tell you," he protested, hands buried in his sleeves to hide his fingers' restless tapping. "The 'one more soon' one just showed up after I killed the thing last night. The one a couple days ago said 'unnecessary' or some weird shit, plus whatever wrote it stole two of Kagome's brace things and left 'em for someone to find with it."

"Meaning it wanted to imply that they aren't necessary?" Miroku frowned. "What was their purpose again?"

"To strengthen, weaken or eliminate scent given off by whoever wears them," Sango supplied. "I would have given a great deal to have had such a thing on hunts—though I suppose my prey wouldn't have agreed."

"In that case, perhaps whatever delivered its opinion of the devices is something we've been trying to hunt, such as the kugutsu," the monk suggested.

Kagome shook her head, catching her hair back in one hand when the sweat-heavy ends made her shoulders hurt. _Stupid clothes not being there. _"That doesn't make any sense. Like Inuyasha said, the kugutsu don't care if we're smellable or not. If anything, the guy controlling them would want the bracelets for himself so Inuyasha couldn't track him."

"Does he know how they work, then? But how?" Sango cracked her knuckles and made them all twitch in near unison. "Sorry. But didn't you say the first creature lured you out with a promise of something almost no one here at the castle would know of, Kagome-chan? Its creator has to be somewhere close enough to get this information without being detected."

There was a lengthy pause. Kagome didn't know whether to laugh or shudder when she realized they were starting to eye each other. "Come on, guys, let's think about it some more. Sango's right, it did know I wanted a bike." She couldn't help a little stab of paranoia: how the hell had it found that out? "Then there was the second one. It attacked us last night…and then I guess I felt another one being made right after Inuyasha killed it. So, we know it…_he_ knows us pretty well, he's got a good hiding spot, and he likes to do stuff that makes no sense."

"It makes sense all right," Inuyasha mumbled, staring at the floor. The humans exchanged quick, wary glances at his tone. "The stupid jerkoff is just havin' fun with us. He didn't have to trick Kagome or steal shit or leave us cute little notes, or use some fake messenger girl with something as obvious as a weird leg. He _wants _us to know he's here. Any time he wants, he could—"

"Wait a moment," Sango interrupted thoughtfully. "If something was written outside the door last night…we never heard anything. Did you notice any unusual scents, Inuyasha? Our enemy was never able to hide himself _that _well."

"Not a damn one." The slayer sighed in exasperation at Inuyasha's terse reply. "I didn't smell a fucking thing. It's like he wasn't there. But how else would it get there?"

"Uh…" Kagome hated to say it, but it was all she could think of. "Maybe…one of the servants? Could he have a spy or something?"

Inuyasha snorted. "I'd still smell it if any of 'em ever got close to him. Besides, humans can't keep secrets worth shit. Even if you look calm, you give off fear stink whenever you think you might get caught. And besides _that_, none of 'em can write more than their names, and that's mostly the kids. If he just got someone to memorize how to write what he wanted, they did a damn good job."

"Wow. It sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this…" Kagome tapped her chin. "Was it in kanji?"

"Yeah, mostly, and it wasn't a woman who wrote it, either. Too pointy." He had indeed thought of that last night, and it had only frustrated him. If any of the castle women could read and write at all, they did so in hiragana, a distinctly curving script, while male servants would do so in katakana, a more angular set of characters expressing the same sounds. Kagome was so used to writing each in her own time that she'd forgotten how unusual it was here for anyone to know both, as Sango and Miroku did to some degree, and thus how a writer's gender could often be discerned at a glance. Kanji was an entirely different matter, left to the nobility or scholars with enough time and dedication to learn thousands of intricate symbols, stroke by stroke, and their readings.

"To summarize…" Miroku sighed heavily. "He has a secure location of which we're not certain, human hands and ears to spy with – likely male and very clever – and a fondness for toying with us, all of which sound exactly like him. You say we're waiting for Shimoko to return and supply us with more information before we attempt his removal, Kagome-sama?"

"I don't see why we can't kill him _now_." This came from Sango, not Inuyasha, who was a little alarmed at the tightly controlled anger she'd been building up. _She's almost as pissed as I am! _"The monster's lived more than long enough, and as long as he's alive, we're _all _in danger, especially…" She folded her hands on her lap, close against her body. "Can't you ask her for more information, Kagome-chan? Please? She has to understand how we feel."

"I tried, but she said he'd just jump to a new hiding place if we went for him without knowing exactly what we're doing." Kagome was conscious of her friend's emotional turmoil, and felt overwhelmingly sorry for her…but what could any of them do? "It'll be soon, Sango-chan, I swear."

"Hate to admit it, but she's got a point," Inuyasha volunteered, wincing again at the slayer's scent. This time it was closer to tears. "I want to kill the fucker just as bad as you do. We'll get him sooner or later, so just calm down for a while."

Sango flushed angrily. "Calm _down_? How dare you—"

"Easy, easy," Kagome said quickly as Miroku discreetly caught Sango's hands, squeezing them to comfort and restrain at once. "He's an idiot, remember, Sango-chan? You have to tell him things right to his face, or he'll never get it."

"Excuse the hell out of me for not reading minds," he snarled. Miroku coughed out a 'Shut up and listen' for his ears only, and despite himself, Inuyasha gave a token scowl, then did so. Kagome gave him a quick, apologetic smile.

"So, you figured it out, Kagome-chan?" The slayer also tried to smile. It looked a lot like the way Kagome had felt not too long ago with the wounded servant: painfully forced. "Just as well. You're right, of course…" She motioned for Kagome to check the hall for servants, then turned to Inuyasha. "It's not your fault. I didn't even realize it till Shimoko told me last night that I'm with child."

The dust settled. Kagome had never heard it before, but she was fairly sure that that was what happened as Inuyasha blinked, several times, and no one else spoke. Fortunately, he broke the spell with a grunt of "Oh" and nothing more.

"I heard myself this morning, when my head was still notably afloat, and I think I reacted the same way." Miroku grinned sheepishly, squeezing her hands again. "We'd rather word not spread too quickly, which is much like preferring the sky green around here, we know."

"But if we could break…it…before everyone starts crowding in, shoving advice in my face and telling me what a pity it is I'll have to raise a cursed son on my own, or offering to…" Sango massaged her temples. "You can understand how we'd prefer not to have to put up with it."

Inuyasha nodded, but his eyes were distant. "So, when did this happen?" His gaze abruptly sharpened, piercing Miroku. "I _knew _it! I told you not to while you were down there, you lech! She was supposed to be sick!"

Miroku raised both hands in an innocent shrug. "The last night, she was more than healthy en—"

A sound suspiciously like a growl from Sango shut him up instantly. "Moving on to more _important _matters…" She dug the heels of her hands into her eyes. "We've no intentions not to keep the child. It might be sooner than we intended, but not too late to eliminate _him._"

Kagome heartily approved of her friend's inclusive speaking; judging by Miroku's short nods, they'd evidently been talking it over. _That must be part of what Shimoko meant, but it looks like things are okay for now. Best not to get between them too much, I guess…_

When the slayer opened her eyes again, they were dry, but her voice creaked with the effort of keeping it steady. "Inuyasha, just in case…something were to happen, do you think…?"

"Don't want the kid to be a bastard if you can help it, right?" The hanyou made a great show of snorting and rearranging his hands. "Fine, the bouzu's broken enough rules for one more not to matter. You can go on the scroll soon as I get around to it."

Slayer and monk sat up as one. "You wouldn't mind, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked carefully.

"Why the hell would I? It's none of my damn business. Quit lookin' at me like that." He glared at them, then Kagome. "Not you, too."

It took Kagome a minute of mental scrounging to put the pieces together. Buddhist monks were supposed to be celibate; however, as she'd explained to Shimoko, that rule had been generally ignored in light of Miroku's unique situation, and it was worth noting that monks were also supposed to follow precepts against killing any living creature, lying, stealing, or using intoxicants, in all of which he'd failed spectacularly.

Nevertheless, an official marriage – even in the secular Buddhist fashion, as opposed to the ornate production of a Shinto ceremony – was pushing it by anyone's standards. As the lord of the castle, though, Inuyasha was _the _highest legal authority available, and if he said they were married, that was that. Nearly any other lord would have dismissed such an unusual idea unless he could think of some personal gain in it, but then, Kagome reflected, Inuyasha was definitely not any other lord.

In short, he'd just done them, and most especially Sango an immense favor, cementing her place in the castle and legitimacy for their child, no matter what might happen to Miroku. With this firmly in mind, Kagome scooted sideways on her knees, edged behind the hanyou, and surprised everyone by giving him a quick but very thorough hug.

"Where did that come from?" Inuyasha nearly snapped, leaning away as she scooted back to her place and folded her hands primly, ignoring her shoulders' complaints.

"That's the only way you couldn't 'keh, forget it' out of someone thanking you." Kagome beamed at him, which did nothing for his comfort or his complexion, then indicated their bemused friends. "And I don't think you'd put up with it from Sango, and probably not you either, Miroku-sama."

"I would certainly hope so," the monk said dryly. But his whole demeanor had lightened visibly, and Sango's troubled air was gone.

"Come on, Inuyasha, I'm starving, and you probably didn't eat yet either. Later, guys." Kagome nodded to her friends, got to her feet, and nudged Inuyasha meaningfully. "Unless you wanna stay up here while I walk all the way down by myself, of course."

She slipped out the next moment, forcing him to pause, mumble "Congratulations" awkwardly, and slam the shoji closed behind him before they could respond.

* * *

"Stupid bouzu," he muttered more than once over their late lunch in her room.

"I would've thought he'd be more responsible than that," Kagome agreed the second or third time. She had her back to the bed, hair tied up in another scarf, the arrangement of which had cost her enough pain to let her know she'd be immobilized when she woke up tomorrow. _No sun for a week at this rate. _"I mean, he held off for so long partly 'cause he was afraid she'd get pregnant, right?"

"Well, keep in mind she said she didn't care. That was the whole point." Inuyasha glanced at the bed, wondering if she'd put two and two together yet. "Not every woman wants to wait till she's old to get knocked up."

"I hardly think waiting past your twenty-first or second birthday qualifies you as old," Kagome retorted. They'd have this conversation before, though in a much less specific sense. "And this is a little different. Sango's not used to kids in the first place, so she's probably scared to death, even without thinking of their extra problems. No one's born knowing how to raise a family, you know, and she's had no experience at all."

Inuyasha didn't answer. She shrugged, then regretted it and concentrated on not moving for the rest of the meal.

"Too bad," he said out of the blue, as they were holding near-empty dishes in easy silence later. Kagome made a questioning noise. "I won't be here to see it."

The atmosphere was no longer comfortable. Kagome tried to conceal a swallow. What could she say to that? _"You could, if you just took the simple precaution of not killing yourself" wouldn't go over too well…we've been through that._

Inuyasha glanced around, then lowered his voice even further. "I don't want you to feel like you're tied to this place whenever…it's over, 'cause the castle itself is staying, thanks to…the way I'm going." Kagome's breathing was becoming erratic, and he forced himself to ignore it: if he didn't say it now, he'd never have the courage again. "But…if you could, whenever you have time, make sure everyone here's okay?"

"What did you think, I've been planning to steal some old armor, sell it, move to the Bahamas and pretend this never happened?" Kagome willed her heart to slow down; she was starting to feel sick. _Don't think about it. Just don't. _"Of _course_ I'll help out. This place is like home. Why would I just leave everyone?" Deep breaths. "…I can't do everything on my own, but Shimoko and Dad…well, Shimoko should be able to help."

If she had been less hot, tired, and emotionally drained, she wouldn't have said anything else. Inuyasha did not expect what came next: "It'd help more if you were still here, though."

To say he was at a loss for words wouldn't begin to describe the impact. But before he could really get angry, or upset, or attempt to figure out why she would say something like that, Kagome took a huge gulp of water and flapped her hand apologetically. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to say it's your fault or you shouldn't do it. It's your decision, and I have no right to mess with it. I'm just hoping Shimoko will be enough to keep Sesshoumaru and Kouga away while we figure out what to do with everyone here."

Only the raw tint of her skin reminded him that grabbing her would not be a good idea. He settled for wanting to do so very badly for a moment, then getting himself under control and casting around for something, anything that would help change the subject. The bed sprang to mind and out of his mouth before he could re-censor it: "So, you know why the bouzu made the servants clean all your sleeping stuff after the last time he slept down here with Sango, right?"

Kagome was taken aback, first by confusion at the new topic—and then a mix of horror, embarrassment and exasperated amusement as it hit her. "They _didn't_!"

"Yep. The bouzu admitted it, remember? He didn't want me smelling it and killing him. I might just do that anyway." The hanyou cracked his knuckles meaningfully, unaware that he did so in the same swift, one-handed fashion Shimoko preferred.

"No, Sango needs him in one piece," she reminded him, getting to her feet. "Speaking of which, they've had enough time to talk things over again. She should get something to eat, and I really need a bath."

"A cold one, maybe. I dunno how you got twice as roasted in just a couple of minutes, but you did." Inuyasha also got up. "So, how long d'you think it'll be before everyone figures it out?"

* * *

To their surprise, word seemed not to have gotten out yet by the time Kagome emerged from the baths for dinner. The servants seemed to have latched onto something else, but as Kagome couldn't catch what they were saying and Inuyasha was ignoring them, that probably wasn't such a bad thing, considering the alternative.

The boys had to be located, called inside thrice and persuaded to put away the newly unearthed water pistols – a cook had hidden them in the kitchen, but not well enough – in order to supervise the meal's preparation. "How come we always have to do this?" Souta complained as he carried dishes into Kagome's room. Kohaku had walked around and served as referee for most of the afternoon, which earned him a scolding from Sango and an injunction to move as little as possible for the rest of the day.

"Kohaku's been doing it without whining for a while now, I'll have you know. He can't tell you, so I'll write it out for you later," Kagome replied. She was more than a little peeved, first by the long delay, and also from noting her brother and Kohaku's light tans. _They were out there for _hours_ without a break! That's just not fair! _"You guys can use the water guns in the baths if you want, as long as you don't get too rowdy."

That worked so well that Shippou even gave up his share of Kagome's dinner to stick with them, leaving them alone again for the meal. Kagome had half a mind to start off by telling Inuyasha about the long conversation she'd had with Sango in the baths, but dismissed the notion. For one thing, it didn't feel right to share a girl talk; more importantly, as happy as Kagome was for Sango, now that she knew her friend was less terrified of the prospect than willing to look at it as a new challenge – for now, at least – Kagome was already aware of the beginnings of envy. She withered it with a mental image of herself with Miroku—_nuh-uh, don't want it. _Problem solved for the moment.

Naturally, that wouldn't work for long. She put down her chopsticks and scratched under her choker, noticing the band for the first time in a while as the velvet rubbed something the wrong way. Funny how she could get used to a hot, tight grip around her throat but not get used to the idea that Inuyasha was going to…yep, there it went again, veering away. _Stupid brain. Stupid hormones. Stupid feelings. They're all against me, they really—_

"When are you going to take that damn thing off?" Inuyasha was only occasionally bothering to pick at his food, thoughts busy working around several things at once. This one wasn't his highest priority, but it pushed to the front of the line at the sight of her digging at her neck.

"I'm not, Inuyasha, so quit bugging me about it." _Not this again. _"The last time I checked, people didn't give gifts and then gripe nonstop about 'em being used."

"I didn't realize it was gonna look like that, all right?" He knew very well that this wasn't going to work, but he also knew that he could be honest with her, dammit, and if he could, then he would. "I don't care how fancy it is, it's a collar."

"If you have to think of it that way, fine. But it's _my _collar, and I like it, so I'm going to wear it." She glanced around for something to fan herself with.

Inuyasha nearly squirmed with frustration. "And you say _I _never get anything? Fine, then, I'll make this easy: that thing is demeaning, and I hate seeing you wearing it like it belongs there. It's not even useful, like that weird cart the wolf gave you or Shimoko's metal things, so there's no reason for you to wear it, either, and you still treat it like it's attached to you. Does that make any more fucking sense?"

Kagome was sure her face was going to start giving off steam any second now. _Wow, he's articulate tonight. So that's why he's been so stubborn about it. _"Yes, it does." She fanned till her wrist began to tire, then switched hands. "First, I don't care if it's useful or not, Inuyasha, because you gave it to me for a reason. Why did you, might I ask?"

He shrugged. "I didn't. It was Shimoko, remember?"

"She's not psychic, Inuyasha. You asked her to get it after I said I wanted one like we saw in the magazine, right?" He nodded impatiently. "Why?"

"Because you wanted the damn thing. What the hell is your point?"

"That was it, dummy." Kagome threaded her fingers through his forelock, tugging it for emphasis. "Kouga gives me stuff to impress me. _You _swallowed your pride so you could get me something you didn't like because you knew I wanted it. And now you keep telling me to get rid of it, it feels like you regret getting it in the first place, which kind of kills the point."

"I wish I'd gotten her to pick something different, yeah," Inuyasha said cautiously. That seemed to be the right answer for now, as she frowned but kept quiet long enough to let him choose his words with some semblance of care. "Think about it. The only thing you've gotten from me that didn't make you cry or get sick or something is _this_?" He extended his hand, barely grazing the grey pearl with one claw. "If it hadn't been for you, Kagome, I'd be dead now without ever having figured out what happened to me and Kikyou, not to mention Sango, Miroku, everyone else in the castle. Have you ever even thought of that?"

There went her heart again. "Have you ever thought that maybe I'm not keeping score? I did this or that, or Kouga got me something and you didn't, and you have to give me five hundred thousand yen or one good present for every point you lose? That's not how it works, Inuyasha. Besides, I told you already, I like it here, and I like being with you. All things considered, I'm really glad I came." Kagome took his hand as he started to withdraw it. "For the last time, I like the choker 'cause _you _gave it to me. If you picked up a stick at random outside and said, 'Here, this is for you,' I'd think you were nuts, and then I'd thank you and keep it. How's that?"

"A _stick_?" His right ear half-swiveled back as he digested the analogy and stared at his captive hand across the table. "Why would I give you a stick?"

"Maybe you were overcome with guilt over things that weren't your fault and thought you had to give me something material but didn't have anything else. I dunno." Kagome tapped one of his claws with her nail.

Both his ears flicked in perfect unison. "You're weird." Kagome started to roll her eyes. They stopped when his thumb slid lightly over her fingers. "How would _you _react if someone walked in one day, starting trying to fix all your problems single-handed, treated you like you were actually worth shit, and then said you shouldn't bother when you tried to thank 'em?"

"Uh…" Her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. "I…well, if it ever happens, I'll let you know." Their hands were still in loose contact. "It's not like I made everything better or anything." Pause. "…I hope I just made the wrong assumption and you didn't just actually say that about yourself again. Maybe you were talking about Shippou or someth—"

"Kagome." His tone was lightly warning now. She obediently ceased babbling, and he studied her carefully. His mind was getting crowded again, with whether Kikyou meant it when she told him to consider marriage and why Kagome was fidgeting instead of being pleased with him all but confessing how much he appreciated what she'd done for him, and what would she do if she wasn't sunburned and he picked her up right now? Snuggle up like a cat, if experience was any guide. Like this morning, or last night, when she'd…well, excluding the neck thing, of course. She probably wouldn't do that sober, any more than she would babble about nothing, like Sango…

Sango. What had Kagome said before she decided to treat his throat like a chew toy? It was difficult getting his mind past that part, but—

His ears went rigid as it all fell into place. _Oh, shit. Holy fucking shit, she said something about making her like Sango. She was talking to ME. And Sango's………_

Kagome blinked, tugging at his hand to wake him from a rather blank stare. "Inuyasha?"

He jumped, almost yanking his hand free. "Kagome? Uh…" How did one phrase a question like this? "Uh…"

"Yes?" she prompted, tilting her head to one side curiously. _He's got that twitchy look again. Wonder what I did now._

"…How much do you remember about last night?" Inuyasha had never even dreamed of the possibility of ever having this problem before. "Like, what you said?"

Uh oh. "Not much, except some bad singing, probably." Kagome ducked her head. _Please don't tell me I asked him for sexual favors, pleeease, God… _"Why?"

"Uh…" Inuyasha glanced around. He recognized Sango's footsteps passing through the hall. "No reason. Will you marry me?"

"No?" It came out more question than answer, but it apparently satisfied the curse, because Inuyasha nodded, got to his feet and was out of the room without so much as another word.

Kagome stared at the shoji, jaw hanging slightly open. "Well, excuse me, whatever I did," she muttered upon recovery, jabbing at her fish angrily. _It can't have been that bad. Maybe I just tried to kiss him and ended up making out with his ear or something. …Yeah, that's probably it._

She finished eating, set her dishes out neatly, and climbed onto her bed, stretching out on her stomach. _Yep, nothing to worry about. I'm not ready to jump him or anything. Didn't probably do something stupid last night. Nope nope. _Her eyes closed, burnt skin stretching unpleasantly to accentuate a deep grimace. _Someone kill me now._

"Kagome-chan?" Sango entered the room. "What happened? Inuyasha looked strange. Are you all right?"

"Sure! Fine. Never been better." Kagome waved cheerily, turned her head the other way and closed her eyes again. "Just kill me before you put out the lights. Nighty night."

Sango glanced at the dishes, then Kagome, then back out at the hallway. _I suppose I should wait till morning to ask her why Inuyasha stopped me to ask if she knew about my condition last night. He's so strange sometimes. All I said was yes, and his eyes nearly came out of his head. Never heard anything like that squeak he made, either. _

The slayer shrugged to herself, motioning for Shippou to be quiet as the kit came in. _It's probably nothing. At least I know she'll stay put as long as her skin's like that, poor thing. Let's hope she's better by the time Shimoko comes back… _Her hands clenched on the bowls as she handed them to the kit. _The sooner we kill Naraku and his puppets, the better for everyone. …Or nearly everyone. Poor Kagome still has no idea. Well, time enough till the curse has to be up. Anything can happen…I hope._

_

* * *

_

A/N: Standard disclaimer on cultural stuff; I looked up as much as I could apply, but, like our crispy heroine, probably still got something wrong.

Another split chapter, after a mere 37 pages. (Yes. Some of us start to write chapters longer than that and have to split them. What's your point?) I'll try to be back within the week, despite finals and starting work and permanent return of bf soon. Tra la la la la. Another…10 chapters at most. We all know how reliable my estimates are, yes. Sue me. Have fun! (But not at suing me, 'cause I be broke! Ha ha. I'm original. No sleep for me.)


	38. Contemplation Before The Storm

Disclaimer: I have a headache. Inuyasha could probably be classified as one, if one wanted to get clever about it, but…no. So…no.

A/N: Yo again, all. Many apologies for the two-month wait, but I had a wedding to help plan, plus I got a new night-shift job, I'm moving to a new city and transferring to a new university, and so on. All the stress has not been conducive to writing, not to mention I am now working five nights a week in the space of time in which I usually have my creative juices best flowing. But now I'm better, ish, so here we go…

* * *

**Beast**

**Chapter 38**

Several years of training in the fine art of shutting her brain down for sleep failed Kagome that night, thanks in no small part to the muggy heat. She wasn't the only one; on the floor, Sango kept turning over restlessly, kicking her light cover off entirely at one point. Kagome hoped she'd done so in her sleep: being sweaty and cranky and tired and nauseous for however long could hardly be fun. _At least my burn'll go away in a few days, barring any more brilliant ideas that involve me going outside to save the day. Stupid sun._ Even Shippou, who usually slept like a furry rock, now slept like a furry rock in acute discomfort, tossing and turning and jolting Kagome awake several times till she pulled the blankets into a small barricade between them.  
Even so, she'd slept in worse conditions, particularly sharing a room with her snoring, sleep-talking sisters. The real problem here was embarrassingly minor: her head was buried in the faint, dog-like scent of Inuyasha's hair, mingled with earthy-smelling skin and the stale, cottony fire-rat fur on her bedclothes. It had been comforting for a few hours, providing her with some amusing reflections on how his haori seemed to smell the same as it had when she first arrived, yet he never had it off long enough to get it washed. _Maybe when he bathes…? Nah, doubt it, seems like he only has one, and it takes forever to dry. It's almost kinda stinky…but so am I, and he smells better than I do, anyway…but seriously, how does he wash that thing? And what about his hakama? Does he just have someone scrub him down fully dressed? Don't think anyone would enjoy having to wash a wet, cranky half dog demon…  
_  
That amused Kagome for a while, till it occurred to her that _she_ wouldn't mind having the chance. It also dawned on her slowly that having the odor literally shoved into her face wasn't exactly conducive to sleep when all it did was quite merrily try to lead her away from dreamland. In fact, the way things were going, she'd be awake all night for no good reason, and that wouldn't do, particularly not if she gave the excuse that she had been up all night trying to remember what she'd said while she was drunk that had freaked him out so badly.

…What the hell had she said, anyway? All she remembered from that night was hearing Shimoko sing, eating chicken, figuring out Sango's condition after the slayer was forbidden to drink alcohol…a vague feeling of resentment…over that? …Ah! No, because she'd always wanted a family of her own some day, and here Sango had a husband and a bun in the oven already without even knowing it. That was why.

She rolled over, one arm hanging over the side as she shook her head in disgust. Trust alcohol to make her feel sorry for herself instead of happy for her friend. Stupid alcohol.

Well, once she got over a few twinges of guilt, that was actually a bit of a relief. There was no way she could've been plastered enough to say anything like that out loud, right? _No way I'd say that—_

Kagome's eyes popped open.

…Particularly not to Inuyasha…proposing they remedy the situation by making one for _her_? …Right? …_Right?_

_Oh, craaaaaap. _It was such a distinct possibility that all the embarrassment she'd been trying to ignore upon dozing off sprang back up and brought its friends, too, and it was all she could do not to get up and bang her head against the wall. _Oh, God. _That would explain the look on Inuyasha's face when he asked her if she remembered what she'd said. There was, after all, a _slight _difference between stealing a couple of hugs or kisses and inviting him to…

_Crap. _Now she was wide awake. _Crap! Damage control, how do we go about that…? _The sooner the better, of course. Should she go up there and explain now?

…In the middle of the night, all alone in his room, when the atmosphere was so unpleasant that his mood was probably somewhere between extremely bitchy and mass homicidal?

An irritating little voice decided to join in on the fun, as if to test just how much she could take. _So, you go see him, and then what? You explain that you didn't mean it, except you actually did, confess your love, a big THE END pops up and your problems all go away? Or you apologize, make _him_ feel bad for no reason, cry some more, get all snot-faced and then regress to toddler again and hope he puts up with it out of guilt?_

Face stiff with an extra layer of red, Kagome curled into a ball on her side, flapping her shirt to cool off and cursing herself for having also perfected inner dialogue years ago. _Do you have to remind me about that? I was freaked out, okay? I'm not—_

_This isn't a romance novel, y'know. Going at it like drunk bunnies is not going to make everything perfect. You're aware of this, right? It'll make things a lot **worse **in the morning, not to mention you're still overdone and any touching will hurt like hell. As in, you should probably just stay in bed. _Your_ bed._

Kagome jammed her face into her pillow, trying to escape the voice of snide reason and ending up with another noseful of dog-musk instead. _I know that! It's not like I can help it. If you're so superior, where were you when—_

_When you were drunk and asked him whatever it was, probably something to do with you, him, and sex? You pretty much killed me with all the booze. Thanks a lot, by the way._

She had nothing to say to that, other than to reflect morosely that it wasn't fair: her hormones seemed to have joined forces with her brain tonight in making sure she understood how much things sucked as clearly as possible. The two were usually very separate entities, content to make her miserable by fighting each other instead.

Speaking of which, her wrists began to itch again, and Kagome irritably slipped the bracelets under her pillow, kicking the anklets off. The sooner she started her cycle and could ditch them, the better. It would be nice to be around Inuyasha without worrying that she was being some kind of olfactory tramp. Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course, except for the fact that she'd already observed the stunning lack of maturity with which he handled physical attraction and had enough cleanup to do as it was.

…No, that wasn't fair, either. _The problem's not "immaturity" so much as "five tons of emotional baggage and being forced to sit around all day with nothing to do but try not to think about it." Way to make things easier on him, molesting him and then yelling at him for wanting to set things right the only way he knows how, just in case he wasn't confused and emasculated enough by this whole stupid setup…_

Thunder boomed in the distance. Kagome couldn't hear rain, but figured it must be coming down if it hadn't been already. _Someone's in an even worse mood than me. Maybe it'll ease up the heat a little…?_

Her brain did something extremely unfair. It slipped an idle question out for contemplation: _Not that it's an option or anything, but what _would _happen if we went up and things got out of hand?_

Imagination picked up and ran with that line of thought, and it was only with great difficulty that she could call it back a few minutes later. _Shut UP! If we…no, you're me, so if _I _don't get to sleep soon, I'll be a zombie later, and God only knows what'll happen when I have to be able to talk to him. Good _night.

To her pleased surprise, no further argument was offered. Willing the smell of his hair away wasn't quite as successful, though, even when she flipped the pillow over. Nor would the longing to be held just disappear because she wanted it to; with the added fillip of some _very _interesting thoughts fresh in mind, sleep eased further and further away till she buried her head under her pillow in utter misery.

It wouldn't have been so bad, really, if Inuyasha had at least been happy.

Another, louder crackle made Shippou whimper in his sleep. She freed her head from its sweat-soaked niche, groped around, located Shippou's vest by feel, and stroked his hair till the little boy quieted again, curling around her fingers without waking.

That did it. Ignoring her skin's protests, Kagome scooped him up, cradling the kit against her chest. After all, he needed reassurance, she needed to hold something, and _he _wouldn't mind if she cried for a while, no matter how wet his hair might get.

She lost track of time as her tears began to slow down, lessening into nothing but dull, heavy, sniffle-broken silence. With that small but potent release, though, her mind finally lost its hold on itself and allowed her to fall deeply asleep, Shippou still tucked, snoring, under her arm.

* * *

Kagome adjusted her seat, scanning her cards. One had her father's head, another Buyo's, while the last three appeared to be Sailor Moon characters dressed as ninjas. She glanced around the table, where her friends were also sitting and looking at their cards. A dream, eh? Good. She hadn't had a nice, weird one in a while.

She was just noticing that none of them had any clothes on when a hand lightly touched her shoulder. "Hi, honey."

"Mom!" Her folding chair fell over in her haste to be up and embracing her mother in as little time as possible; as this was not reality, the metal made a squeaky sound as it hit the floor, then vanished. Kagome didn't notice, busy as she was inhaling the mixed scents of floral perfume, lotion and foundation her mother had worn on special occasions when she was alive. "You're really here!"

"Yes, but no." Jurei Higurashi patted her daughter's hair gently. "I just noticed you were feeling bad and wanted to drop in. I always do, of course, but that's usually not allowed."

Kagome leaned back, puzzled at the slight catch in her voice. "What do you mean?"

"It means I cheated a little. Actually, I should be getting back now, or your grandfather will notice I've been gone." One eyelid dropped conspiratorially, and Kagome found herself grinning in response. "Don't worry, love, I'll see you again, just not for a while. Now, you should thank this lady here for giving me an opening—"

"Lady?" She glanced around and nearly jumped out of her nonexistent skin. "Who're you?"

"I thank you, and goodbye," Jurei said formally to the woman standing behind Inuyasha. She touched Kagome's shoulder again, smiled broadly, and was gone the next moment.

"Mom?" Oddly enough, the elation of having seen her mother remained in place, while disappointment at her swift exit flitted in and out too quickly to register. The strange woman looked at her steadily; Kagome felt transparent, but comfortably so, almost as if she knew the lady would find nothing at fault with her. "Who're you, ma'am?"

"A messenger, yet not." The contralto voice was deeper than she'd expected—though, considering the speaker also wore feudal armor and had a rather formidable air about her even at ease, Kagome figured that was probably her own judgment at fault. The stranger's features were beautiful, almost delicate, yet regal and commanding, while her slender frame bespoke fitness gained and kept by plenty of hard work. This was no courtesan or noblewoman, but a warrior as formidable as any samurai of her era. "You have heard my name before. I invite you to explore the remnants of your past self, to better understand your present circumstances and perhaps aid others. Do you accept?"

"I…" A disturbance in the atmosphere made her trail off uneasily. It felt…wrong, for lack of a better word. By the scowl on the lady's face, she had felt it, too, and agreed. "What was that?"

"Come. Look." The woman's head turned to regard a TV that had somehow oozed out of the wall while she was speaking. It didn't occur to Kagome till much later that the two standing side by side should look funny, but didn't. "Attend closely. We will meet again soon."

Despite herself, Kagome obeyed. The card table vanished, as did her apprehension, leaving only curiosity as the TV flickered and a quiet test pattern came on. _Mom and Midoriko already, now this? Must've been something I ate. Wonder what's next. …Midoriko…? Where do I know that name from?_

The screen came alive, literally, expanding slowly outward till the images were life-size and then real. Kagome forgot her questions as she her feet began moving on their own, carrying her down a narrow track through very familiar woods.

Her dreaming mind cheerfully accepted the about-face, watching the bow clutched in her hands, her startlingly red hakama and white sleeves, then the leaf-scattered trail. Anything could happen at this point, she knew from experience, especially if it was something she particularly wanted. _Let's see…how 'bout that card game? Strip poker? We didn't get to play at all. Mom was pretty good. Bet that priestess could've beaten us all, though._

The comfortable haze over her environment seemed to adjust itself, and Kagome suddenly felt…different, almost disconnected, as if her brain had decided to take over but let her stick around to watch. She now knew they were close to their destination, not far now so long as she kept her guard up. This was a dangerous area, after all.

Beside her, a girl in a clean but tattered kimono carried a small basket, betraying her nervousness only with an occasional glance around and a slight gulp. Kagome roused herself enough to want to reach over and tell her it was okay, but her body ignored her. _Hey. My dream, and if I want to be nice, dammit, I will._

This did not happen. "It should be near," Kagome found herself saying instead. The girl nodded.

Darkness descended before she could get indignant about the lack of control; curious, Kagome glanced around, just in case. _That was pointless. Back to everyone being naked now? Or Mom? Except not naked, of course—_

Sensations washed over her, creeping down her awareness one at a time like sticky raindrops. Kagome couldn't see anything – particularly not anyone naked – but a warm breeze brushed her cheek and sunlight beat steadily against her hair. Some kind of stiff grass slipped through her fingers as she sorted…herbs, that was what that pungent smell was.

As information seeped into place, she found she could recognize roots, stems and leaves from memory by texture and shape, placing each in neat piles and then taking more from the bundles the children had gathered for her that morning. Her knees ached from a few hours too many in one position, but she preferred not to move till the cluster of maids doing laundry nearby were gone. Did they think she had nothing better to do than guard them so they could do their chores near the demon-infested forest in safety, away from their mistress' supervision?

_No harm done. _Kagome relaxed. It wasn't important. Her surroundings were familiar and safe for the moment, with no demons in the vicinity besides the few that still belonged to the castle. The inane conversation drifting around the corner of the shrine wasn't worth losing her focus…until one sentence stood out.

"He was at it again today."

"Was he?" Noises of dismay, like clucking, she thought absently. "What happened?"

Kagome stilled her features before they could betray her surprise—not at the fact that they were talking instead of working again, of course, but at her own reaction. She knew who they were talking about, and it annoyed her, far too much so. Why should she care if they wanted to entertain themselves with the same drivel every day?

"Oh, nothing too terrible. Three of his father's personal bodyguards deigned to practice with him, and he ended up nearly taking one of their heads off. Our men tried to warn them about the danger, but would _they_ listen to humans? Never."

A vague, dry, almost tickling sort of sensation eased along Kagome's head, as if she had been wearing a too-tight mask and was allowed to peel it off just long enough to readjust. For a split second, she understood that this experience was not something her imagination was coming up with on the spur of the moment, and that she was—

The mask snapped back into place, her mind fully and comfortably reimmersed the next instant.

"Such a pity Izayoi-sama has been feeling ill lately," one girl was saying quietly. She heaved an expressive sigh, as if they hadn't been talking about this every day for over a year now. "With Sesshoumaru-sama gone, it's not as if anyone else can control him, and that temper of his is beginning to frighten me. All well and good to let Touga-sama keep him as a child, but what if something were to happen to Izayoi-sama? He might just decide to kill us all to spite his brother before Sesshoumaru-sama could return."

It didn't matter that she knew they were twisting the facts, even amongst themselves—the old dog demons had come to "visit" their lord's widow and assess the situation, probably in order to curry favor with Sesshoumaru, and insulted Inuyasha so thoroughly on entering the castle that he'd promptly attacked the youngest. If he had been full demon, she thought idly, Inuyasha would have killed all of them easily. He'd done plenty of damage as he was…

That wasn't what bothered her.

"We've the houshi-sama here, of course, and the two slayers, so it's not _too _dangerous…"

She'd seen the fight, in passing, though it had ended too quickly for her to intervene. She'd seen dozens of such encounters, demons or hanyou or humans leaping at other demons or hanyou or humans in blind rage. She'd seen far worse than the scuffle that morning, yes, but nothing that had affected her quite so badly.

"And of course the miko-sama—" The speaker bit her lips as the women realized _she _was listening, callused hands resting on her lap as she gazed steadily at the little group without really seeing them. "Forgive us, Kikyou-sama." They bowed as one, and she nodded absently, each gesture so habitual as to be meaningless to her now.

The attack's swift violence hadn't disturbed her in the least. No, another reaction entirely had made her turn and hurry away instead of dealing with the situation and saving Izayoi-sama considerable trouble.

Another maid giggled and dropped her voice further, so that it was only easy to hear and not entirely too loud. "Did I tell you what my husband said to me last night? He wants—"

Her ears tuned them out, time drifting to a halt as her fingers automatically resumed. It was one thing to be familiar with how men and women's minds and bodies worked, of course, in order to be able to dispense advice and arbitrate disputes in addition to her healing duties; it was quite another to realize that that most basic of human reactions had finally, inexplicably targeted _her._

She'd been nearly weak-kneed after a single expressive glimpse of Inuyasha. Fear? No, that dizzying heat had been nothing but pure lust.

Her teeth ground despite her best efforts to remain still. She had almost lost herself in that moment, before her sense and her training took over. And for whom—for what? A hanyou. A rude, foul-mouthed, irritating half-breed, and one she was obligated to let live only for his mother's sake. A moment's attraction to a human would hardly have bothered her, much less kept her this distracted; to have thought of Inuyasha that way at all, however, was mortifying. Given her duties and her position itself, it was nothing short of disgraceful.

That wasn't the worst of it. The worst was that that hadn't been the first time he'd been in her thoughts lately, only the most intense thus far. Why else would she allow him to follow her, watch her as she worked and all but stalk her every movement? They both knew they were, if not mortal enemies, firmly on opposing sides. She had the Jewel, he wanted it, and she wasn't going to let him have it, his opinion of which had been made very clear in cursing and then sulking. That should have been the end of it…

Unaccountably, thinking of his childishness made her want to smile, if a bit darkly. No, he would never get his claws on the Jewel. Nothing would induce her to hand it to a demon, or to _him, _no matter what he might say or try to do.

…Unless…

_No._ She crushed the notion ruthlessly, knowing he would never agree to use it that way. He only wanted power, not something as trivial as a normal life, and she was a fool to waste time dreaming of it.

Shaken, she shook herself as the flesh along her shoulders prickled, uncomfortably hot with the weight of her hair and thick fabric. Pathetic, really. All this turmoil for a _half_-_breed_—

Kagome nearly forced herself awake right there, shaken as she was by the strength of the convictions being repeated without words in Kikyou's head. It made her sick, and angry, and unnerved—the priestess might have told herself in this stray wisp of memory that the incident meant nothing, but Kagome realized just as well as Kikyou had that her reaction to the "slip" wasn't going away, and no reinforcement of her position or prejudices against hanyou would convince her otherwise.

A flare of resentment demanded her attention again, and her sleeping self cried out without knowing it as something dug into her shoulder. Kikyou had moved to scratch beneath her clothes and, when her mind refused to obey its training, nearly tore skin open in order to remaster her thoughts. The sensual lethargy vanished, but the unhappiness persisted, molding itself into palpable sorrow, gentle regret deepening into melancholy deepening into near anguish, driving her nails deeper against her will.

There was no anger or hatred, merely a terrible, stark clarity framing facts she had always taken for granted, growing unchecked from its long-repressed roots as her will to do so faltered. She thought back to her training, when it had been easy enough to resign herself to becoming a priestess, when she had had no idea how dangerous, how exigent, how _lonely _this life would be. She was female, yes, but her life as guardian of the Jewel forbade her to be _human, _much less distract herself with thoughts of a normal life, a group of silly women to laugh with during the day, a man to share her sleeping space at night, children to get underfoot and ruin her work and love her…

Nails clenched, then lifted, and the relief from pain also freed her mind abruptly. She almost smiled again, this time in self-possessed amusement, then set her herbs aside and moved her shoulder cautiously to gauge the damage, welcoming the sting of sweat trickling into the split skin. There she went again. Her attention span was becoming as bad as Inuyasha's. Perhaps it was inevitable that he should be in her thoughts: their situations were certainly similar enough—

There. The long-ignored idea had finally emerged, leaving her to size it up head-on for the first time in hopes of being able to banish it for good. That shouldn't prove difficult; after all, how could a powerful, respected human priestess and an unruly hanyou be anything alike? The notion was so ridiculous that she still couldn't quite reject it.

A moment's thought sobered her, as became clear that they were indeed. The Shikon Jewel and her pledge to help Izayoi-sama keep marauding demons at bay tied her to this place; until she was killed or managed to find a powerful, virtuous, and willing replacement to protect the Jewel, her life would be restricted to the same shrine and the same duties. Considering how strongly demons were attracted to the Jewel and how few women with spiritual powers of any strength were likely to be found, much less agree to stay in such a place, it was better not to even bother with that possibility.

Meanwhile, the desire to use the Jewel to erase his human strain bound Inuyasha to the castle just as strongly—here, where he was either scorned or feared by everyone he'd ever known, and the only person who showed him any measure of affection was too busy to see her son more than a few minutes a day. But she was here, and no one elsewhere would likely ever tolerate him, much less love or accept him.

Besides, Izayoi-sama's tenuous position was his only protection against his father's many enemies, in addition to his half-brother and those who simply wanted to see any half-blood dead. As soon as her short human life ended, Inuyasha would lose his status as heir – placeholder, puppet, pet, more like – upon his brother's return. Sesshoumaru had never sworn not to kill _him _after his father's death, only Inuyasha's mother, guaranteeing that all the hanyou had to look forward to was violent death or a lonely, bitter life as a hunted creature.

There was another layer to the story as well, another small matter that didn't deserve its place in her thoughts. She had heard it whispered more than once that Inuyasha had never showed any inclination to exercise what should have been his rights as a nobleman—namely, he had never taken a lover from the ranks of those beneath him, not any of the servants, the courtiers in residence before his father's demise, nor his mother's personal attendants, who would usually be obligated to obey him in that respect, male _or _female. That had puzzled her, believing…_knowing _as she did that demon men were just as insatiable as humans, if not more so; Inuyasha could hardly be an exception unless he had some kind of physical problem, which would have been widely known and snickered over, had that been the case.

That was _not_ the case. It was common knowledge and thus had come to her very soon after her arrival that Sesshoumaru had taken care of that point, with his father's tacit permission, when Inuyasha was still a child. His future had been sealed, like hers, but without any element of choice. Such a lack of freedom was commonplace in this era, not worth getting upset about any more than one should protest the color of the sky. There was no way around it, and no use wasting time or energy in trying.

…But…

Dry blades pierced her hands as fingers crushed herbs involuntarily. Her shoulder began to throb as the sun emerged from behind puffy clouds and sweat gathered anew.

But if there _was _a way around it…

_Both of us, always restricted. If only…if only he would listen to the only solution…we could find new lives, break free…_

An image flashed in her mind's eye, so that her last thought was concurrent with a vivid impression of intensely golden eyes staring straight through her. Heat bloomed and slipped through her veins, warming her in a very different fashion than the sunlight; this time, she allowed herself to _feel_ it, closing her eyes for just one moment. _Together—_

Suddenly, the memory vanished. Kagome's eyes were open and staring at Kikyou, who was kneeling across from her in her empty room. All her questions were answered with a single look into the priestess' face: like the nightmare recollecting her death, what Kagome had just seen was a remnant of Kikyou's past left in her mind, and one she hadn't been shown deliberately, either. Not by Kikyou, at least… _Why did what's-her-face pull that out for me? _She shook herself. _That was awful. I'm almost glad I didn't know the whole story._

"Inuyasha was not permitted to so much as lay hand on any woman, no matter her rank or race," Kikyou said quietly, remaining blank and motionless as Kagome reeled in double shock, first at the volunteered information, and then the impact of the words themselves. "It wasn't stated as such, of course, but Sesshoumaru made it clear that he would kill any female bearing Inuyasha's scent, without question, and Inuyasha never bothered with them, nor any of the men."

Kagome couldn't quite wrap her head around the concept, and wasn't sure she wanted to. "He couldn't…_ever_? Why would Sesshoumaru care about that? Did he hate him that much? And why the hell would that be any of his business?"

"Neither he nor Touga-sama wanted to take any chance of their blood being further diluted amongst humans, to create more beings despised for their very existence, or of a demon female trying to use him against them. It was a common strategy in those days to seduce a lord's younger son, have the heir and other rivals killed, and then claim blood rights for whichever offspring could be conceived before she was found out." Kikyou folded her hands, calm by all appearances except that betraying gesture; the surreal environment seemed more immediate than usual, as Kagome thought she could almost feel the air's temperature. "No one is certain whether hanyou are able to breed at all, but if Inuyasha had been permitted to try, his problem could very well have been passed on despite all precautions."

That word nearly pushed Kagome right over the edge. "No wonder he's got a complex about that," she said tightly.

Kikyou frowned. "About—"

"About being a freak, about his existence being a mistake or a problem or an _accident_, about making it easier for everyone if he'd just die or change into something else! Take your pick! No wonder he hates himself so much!" If she had been in her own body, she would have been trembling in sheer indignation. "Everyone treated him like some weird _thing_ they were waiting to get rid of! Even _you _didn't think it was fair!"

"What other basis do you think I had for proposing to use the Jewel? Boredom?" The room seemed very close all of a sudden as Kikyou's eyes narrowed. "I saw a chance to rid the world of the Jewel _and _benefit us at once. Inuyasha would no longer be in danger—do you honestly think he would have remained alive a day past his mother's death, much less kept his place as the Western lord? Without his taint, he could have had a normal life, girl, a family and a home with _me_, free of the Jewel and beneath his brother's notice. Izayoi-sama didn't need him, and Sesshoumaru would have—"

"Oh, come on, even I know that part!" Kagome snapped. "If Inuyasha wasn't there, his mom wouldn't have had any excuse to be there, either, and Sesshoumaru could've kicked her out, let God knows what happen to her, and saved himself the trouble!"

"I will not argue possibilities," Kikyou said levelly, though Kagome could feel that she was also nearing her limits. "You seem to think it was _my_ fault that Inuyasha was treated as he was. Have you ever seen a village reduced to a pile of blood and limbs by a few hungry demons? Or watched a hanyou run down human children as if they were mice? Beliefs you think unfair exist because of creatures like those, and others followed the pattern until it became very clear that only being wary of demons and hanyou keeps humans alive. Do you need any further elaboration, or would you like me to show you what our parents looked like once the ape demons had eaten their fill?"

"Oh, no. That makes perfect sense." Kagome crossed her arms. "So tell me, how many kids has Inuyasha picked off and eaten? How many girls did he take advantage of because he could order them to and _he _wouldn't get in trouble for sleeping around? And the last time I checked, he couldn't figure out why I'd be upset that he was planning to rip his own guts out to make up for _you _dying and to make sure we'll all be okay! Of _course _he's some kind of monster, with a personality like that!"

"_That was why he should have been human!" _The force of Kikyou's words was palpable, even in this purely nonphysical space. For just a moment, Kagome bore the full brunt of all the feelings she hadn't comprehended before their minds had split: anger, shame, self-disgust and frustration roiled in a terrible, shapeless mass, paralyzing her very mind in sheer hell as a staggering load of guilt rose to the fore. This had been absent from the memory because the specter of Kikyou with which she was in contact contained all these emotions, and more; they were what drove her, all that was left of a strong-willed and intelligent woman Kagome could have respected very much if they had met under different circumstances. Now, all she knew was what the priestess had been through, and the result was not surprising nor pleasant.

Gradually, the mass of negativity withdrew, leaving a few acrid traces that had Kagome groping for a foothold in reality. She barely heard the priestess's next words, and when they hit her, she was momentarily afraid she'd lost her few remaining marbles. "You want to know if I _what_?"

"If you've contemplated accepting him," Kikyou repeated in her uniquely matter-of-fact tone. "If you feel you could do better, you have the opportunity to try any time."

No acceptable answer came to Kagome's addled mind. Her predecessor continued in the same unruffled fashion: "As I've said, you have more influence over the Jewel than you think. If you think back a little and review certain facts about Naraku and my own behavior, you may very well have an easier time locating him than I believed. It's taken the initiative in contacting you, for one thing…" Anger flickered again. It took every shred of Kagome's willpower not to dive under the bed in anticipation of another emotional bitch-slap. Luckily, Kikyou regained her composure almost instantly. "If you do, you can be rid of him and break the curse, if you wish. The Jewel is the curse's source of power, after all. You need only decide whether the risks outweigh the benefits."

Kagome felt as if she was being pulled in five different directions. "But…I thought you said to wait till Shimoko came back and told us…something, or else we'd screw everything up and tip Naraku off, and we'd never catch him. And…you _want _me to marry Inuyasha? I thought—"

"You may not have sufficient time. Something has happened without your even being aware of it, and he may decide to stop toying with you and move in for the kill at any moment. That would activate the curse's worst outcome and make things _very _inconvenient. Also…" Her voice lowered, and Kagome could feel much different emotion in it as she murmured, "It would also hurt Inuyasha much more than I'd ever care to see again. I don't think he'd be able to bear losing you as well."

_Me? _"It wasn't your fault," Kagome tried to say, but her thoughts were so jumbled with confusion, denial and sorrow for both priestess and hanyou that almost nothing came out. _Is there _anything _I can do to help them?_

The room wavered, tatami rocking beneath their knees as if in an earthquake. "You can't even hide your feelings in your sleep," Kikyou said after a glance around, though she was smiling gently. "The slayer is trying to wake you."

Kagome shook her head. _I'm probably mumbling in my sleep or something about how much it sucked to be Kikyou or Inuyasha. _"Kikyou, I don't know what you're trying to say. I mean, I never do, 'cause you usually don't want me to, but—"

"Now that you know the reason Inuyasha has reacted to your advances the way he has, you know better than to press him." The priestess was somber again. "You also know that I understand your feelings, but I ask you not to act on them, for both your sakes. Please."

Did she _have_ to remind her about that? "But—"

"Kagome-chan?" The room shuddered more violently.

"Be very careful, and good luck." Kikyou inclined her head.

"But—"

Her eyes were open and inches away from Sango's anxious face the next moment.

"Kagome-chan! What is it?" The slayer released Kagome's shoulders and pushed her own hair out of her face, only to have it fall right back into her eyes as she leaned in closer. "Are you awake? Please say something!"

Again, Kagome's mouth tried to frame words – "I'm fine, calm down" – but couldn't get any sound out.

"I think she needs some water," she heard Shippou say anxiously from nearby. "Should I go get some?"

"Good idea, thank you…. Kagome-chan, what's wrong?"

Kagome could've answered that quite extensively, but when Sango touched her cheek, she suddenly knew why her friend was so worried: tears were still leaking from her eyes almost freely. _Wow. I didn't know people could actually do that in their sleep. I thought it only happened in bad soap operas. Maybe I was talking about my tragic past the whole time, too. _She tried scrubbing them off with the back of her wrist and was rewarded with the ability to speak: "Ow."

The water arrived shortly. Sango had the wisdom to refrain from pressing her as she drank. Kagome handed her the emptied cup, gave her a wavery smile, and held up one finger. "Thanks. I don't really want to talk about it right now, but I'll tell you two things. One, I had a really bad dream, and two, don't be alarmed by what I'm about to do—oh, I lied. Three, keep Inuyasha away till I'm done. Where is he, by the way?"

"I think he's helping some of the men outside. Several trees fell near the shrine last night, and Kaede can't get in safely," Sango replied. She smiled reassuringly, and Kagome smiled back. "Why?"

Kagome made herself comfortable on her side. "No reason. Cover your ears, Shippou-chan, okay?"

That was all the warning they got. A deep breath, and Kagome suddenly gave a wailing cry that made Sango's hair leap straight up from her scalp. "What in the _world_—"

But no explanation was forthcoming. Kagome buried her face in her pillow and sobbed unashamedly, making no attempt to silence herself even as footsteps thudded in the corridor and several maids excused their rudeness in seeing whether Kagome-sama was hurt or otherwise needed assistance. Sango had no clue, but thanked them and explained that neither their help nor Inuyasha's was required, so they didn't have to trouble themselves about it.

Unfortunately, as was one of their most highly developed skills, two girls misheard and immediately went to fetch him from outside. After all, they agreed in hushed tones, it was probably his fault anyway.

* * *

As everyone familiar with the castle's unique meteorological environment had immediately surmised, Inuyasha went to bed in a rather crappy mood, as he often did when he was forced to think for several hours on end and nothing productive came of it anyway. No other sleepless night in his recollection, however, had ever been quite as bad as this one.

The cause of his unrest seemed simple, asmany oflife's most irritating problems do before one begins to unravel them. He could only work out so many other possible explanations for what the girl had said, and repeat them only so many times in case they might sound more plausible that way; then he had to give up and digest the fact that she'd asked him to get her pregnant, which involved a process he'd never let himself even _think_ of as an option with anyone. Hell, he'd half forgotten it was even possible, he'd so thoroughly removed himself from the thought of a normal relationship in any sense of the word.

Of course, she'd been completely smashed when she said it. Any idiot could've seen that and figured she hadn't known what she was saying. The problem with that theory was that Kagome simply didn't say things she didn't mean, even when her vocabulary was reduced to that of a mentally subnormal three-year-old. Besides, she had willingly approached him before…though he'd had no clue she'd ever wanted to get more serious than a little impulsive face-sucking. How _would _he?

This wasn't the cause for celebration it would've been for nearly any other male in existence, not for him. If she _did _mean it, he merely had a whole new problem on his hands, one he didn't know how to begin fixing. Was he supposed to lie and tell her he wasn't interested? Just let it go and hope she didn't remember it at all? Or should he tell her the truth, that he could think of few things he'd like more, but wasn't going to do so for several very good reasons?

For one thing, he'd rather not have her targeted by anything that could smell him on her for the next few days – Kouga's reaction alone might be dangerous, never mind Fluffy's; it would be just like that prick to drop by for no reason and decide to try and invoke that old rule – not to mention the little matter of also being forbidden by the curse to take any steps in that direction till she actually said she'd marry him.

Now _there _was a guideline Inuyasha had thought moronically unnecessary at the time. It had never even occurred to him that any girl who might get trapped in the curse would be willing to tolerate his company for more than a few minutes a day, much less give herself up to a strange hanyou. Still, he had been told, almost in as many words, not to take any liberties unless he wanted to end the curse unfavorably right there. ...The phrasing almost made him wonder if it would be all right provided _she _took the initiative, but he rejected the notion irritably before he could like the idea too much.

Even now, when he was actively thinking of it, Inuyasha had had to remind himself that the extra restriction was in place at all, used to Fluffy's stricture as he was. The curse's rules had assumed that he might get carried away with his newfound freedom and destroy his own chances of ever interacting normally with his "guests" long enough to break free unless he knew it was prohibited again; being told that he probably had no qualms about forcing himself on a helpless girl didn't sit well with him, but he'd grown up with worse, and the other guidelines had quickly pushed that little detail to the back of his mind. By the time he'd thought of pointing it out to those who'd spread the rumors about him and Sango immediately after Kagome's arrival, it had been too late: no one would have believed him, and those who did would've merely pointed out all the alternatives they could've been trying anyway.

No, he'd hardly even noticed it, given the circumstances. As far back as he could remember, it had always been given that he couldn't form any kind of relationship, physical or otherwise, without hurting someone purely by the association. The lack of, well, more _basic_ interaction could be annoying sometimes, but the few times he thought about it, he was almost grateful: there was a ready, legitimate excuse to keep to himself and away from all the cringing, backstabbing, brainless girls from whom he would have had to choose anyway—and he didn't even want to _think_ about the men. After several years, the prohibition had become so ingrained that it had taken him hours of chewing over Kikyou's proposal to realize that he'd finally be free of it as a human, a prospect to which he had just begun to dare to look forward to when the whole plan collapsed.

No one had ever intimated that he might be desirable as a hanyou, and sure as fuck not the way he was now. No one had ever been so at ease with him as to make _him _drop his guard as far as Kagome had in two short months. No one had ever confused him so thoroughly, and as he came inside from a habitual check of the grounds, his head was such a mess that he could barely begin to settle on any aspect of his situation, except that he was confused and thoroughly pissed off.

It wasn't about whether or not he could find a way to sleep with her. That much he knew, at least, because it wasn't going to happen. Sex was a _really_ irritating but nonessential part of the problem here, and _not _why he was getting angrier every minute he thought about it. The important factor was Kikyou, as it always had been, and his feelings for her, which were still strong as ever. Despite the curse's best efforts, Kagome had known the whole story almost from the beginning – or at least she thought she did, he amended grimly – and proceeded to treat him like a normal person anyway. …No, better than that—she'd gotten angry on his behalf, cried for him and _then _started cozying up to him for no reason. She knew there was nothing to be gained from it, but did that stop her?

_That _point nearly drove him insane. She knew he had nothing left here, but that hadn't stopped her from reacting as she did to the idea of him killing himself. Kagome _knew _that that was his only chance at regaining control of what was left of his life, and his chance to atone for Kikyou's death, _and_ a guarantee of the castle's safety! Why did she have to complicate what should have been the most straightforward, ironclad decision he'd ever made? That stricken look in her eyes alone had shaken his resolve for the barest hint of a second, and he'd almost hated her for it. _Now_ she had to go and remind him _again _of everything he'd lost with Kikyou's death, not to mention the fact that they were still trapped in this fucking curse! And whose fault was _that_, anyway?

The answer to that question was too much, too much pain and sorrow to fit in his head and heart. Inuyasha shoved it down before it consumed him, letting anger dominate and baring his fangs as thunder voiced his feelings far distant. _Never get what I want, never get what I need, can never do anything about it, my Kikyou dead and suffering, can't even make Kagome happy no matter what I do, and she just sits there and says she wants me to screw her and live! What the **fuck **am I supposed to do about this? What the fuck **can **I do? What does she want from me? What do I do now?_

The easiest option would be to ignore it. Pretend nothing happened, hope she didn't remember having said anything, and go about their business trying to find and kill Naraku.

_And then what? _Inuyasha clutched his head in his hands as the second tension headache he'd ever had in his life began to wind around his temples. The weather's loud response did not help. _Then what do I do? When I'm gone, Fluffy and the fleabag won't just drop dead and leave her alone. How do I keep from fucking her life up any more than I already have?_

He couldn't leave her like that. Inuyasha knew all too well what dealing with Sesshoumaru was like, and he wouldn't inflict Kouga on any but his worst enemies as far as pigheaded, arrogant stupidity went. Even if she found someone else to help integrate the castle with the twenty-first century – Shimoko could only do so much, encumbered with a family of her own and probably less powerful than her father as she was – Kagome would never get away from all this without some serious problems in addition to the ones she'd temporarily left at her family's little shrine.

But the fact remained that she'd dived headfirst into his business where she could've sat back and kept quiet. It wasn't that he didn't know she was just trying to help; that was what was making this so difficult. What girl in her right mind would deliberately entangle herself so completely in his problems that cutting her free was going to be painful for both of them now? Did she think he was looking forward to leaving the first person he'd ever really trusted, a girl stupid and big-hearted enough to care about him and show it? Why did _she_ have to be the one to come here, anyway? This could have been so much easier…

Inuyasha couldn't take any more. Heedless of the driving rain, he willed himself outside and began a long, slippery run roughly parallel to the castle. The fat drops chilled and chafed his skin, but cooled his ardor and a bit of his temper, allowing him to shut himself up for a while. It was maddening to realize that, with the return of some semblance of reason, the first thing he really wanted was to go sit in Kagome's room. Even if That was off limits, she was still a nice armful, after all…

Ugh. There he went again. How the hell had she gotten such a hold on him? He had to make sure she was safe, of course, but—

His eardrums screamed five plaints of murder as the dawn-hidden sky gave a deafening crack. White lanced into his eyes simultaneously, and the acrid smell of burning wood and sap completed the assault a moment later. _Shit. Gotta calm down if it's gotten that bad… _Concern tempering his ire, Inuyasha threaded his way into the forest and towards the rapidly expiring flames in the severed trunk. It had toppled over and taken several of its kin with it, none long enough to actually reach the castle's outbuildings, but one so close to the shrine that Inuyasha was momentarily afraid of seeing limbs sprawled through the scattered branches. "Oi!" His nose couldn't separate any human scent from mud and tree, but that might change if he got in closer. "Shit…"

"Is someone there?" Kaede's voice came from several feet distant, nearly lost in his ringing ears.

"Out of the way, hag." Inuyasha managed not to sound _too _relieved, as he could pick out the shapes of torch-bearing men moving towards them through the rain. "You probably want this out of the way, right?"

Kaede obediently moved aside a safe distance, though she watched for a minute or two in some surprise as Inuyasha, instead of simply grabbing the trunk and throwing it haphazardly back into the forest, spoke to the men coming up to him. When a quick search of the downed branches revealed nothing, he gestured for them to come closer and began issuing orders. Little did any of them suspect that he was seizing the opportunity to do something useful, and even he forgot it soon as work commenced.

First, in obedience to their lord's decision, there was a general movement back. Inuyasha easily snapped off the biggest, most ungainly branches to go into rough piles, saving the men hours of uncomfortable, tedious and dangerous work. Then the group split up, some to go fetch tools, a few to drag the branches aside for firewood, and the rest to stand around and dodge flying wood chips as Inuyasha carved up the rest of the tree. No one particularly minded: the servants were spared the worst part of an unexpected chore, and the hanyou got to vent his stress _and _revel in the physical activity, piddling as it was compared to even the short fight against the bat demons yesterday. One of the very few things he'd like to have back from the old days would be some decent opponents, no cheating monks or stupid wolves…but not if it put Kagome or the others at danger, he reluctantly decided. He'd take what he could get now, including the chance that the bats would come back. Meanwhile, killing dead trees would have to do.

The old priestess stood and watched for nearly half an hour, till her knees decided to remind her of the fact and she found a dry vantage point under a balcony nearby. It was rare to see Inuyasha interacting with his servants for more than a few seconds at a time, and unheard of to see it happen without any degree of unpleasantness; by the cheerful admiration with which the men were treating him as they worked, though, that had to be what was happening. She could only hope that the good luck would hold while they divided up the rest of the wood and cut it into ever-smaller pieces: she hadn't had to take care of any major injuries for several days now. Hopefully, that wouldn't change.

The rain slackened as Inuyasha, looking properly aloof and surly with his hair and clothes soaked, hung around to supervise, stopping to help every so often when the rain diminished to a stubborn drizzle and footing became more difficult for the tired workers. Weariness or not, the undertaking took several minutes longer than necessary, Kaede thought, with the way Inuyasha kept pausing to rub at his ears when he thought no one was looking, then stuffed his hands back into his sleeves as someone turned to address him. The thunder had been more than bad enough for human hearing, to say nothing of how it must have hurt Inuyasha's.

She didn't even think of it as more than a slight nuisance for him, though, not even when two young kitchen servants hurried out, picking their way through the mud and bowing a path through the men to reach Inuyasha. They spoke rapidly, indicating the castle with short hand gestures and moving their heads too fast for him to watch their lips; both girls missed the confusion on his face, and hurried off gladly when he agreed to take care of it, having no idea whatsoever of what they'd been saying thanks to the ringing in his skull.

The sky was considerably lighter, though still overcast, when the ground was more or less cleared. Inuyasha finished accepting thanks and excused the men to go about whatever they normally did in the morning, then sloshed his way over to Kaede. "Should be okay now," he said a trifle too loudly.

Kaede got up and bowed shortly. Then she leaned in closely and motioned with her hand for him to do the same.

"What?" Inuyasha bent over. "You need someOW!"

"There." Undisturbed, the old woman flexed her hands as he frantically brushed at his ears. "Did that not help?"

"Next time you wanna touch me, say somethin' first!" The quick tugs on each furry triangle had popped something inside and eliminated that annoying, cloudy buzz, but it was the principle that mattered. One female constantly molesting his ears was one too many as it was. "Sadistic old bat…"

"Ye may want to check inside." Her voice stopped him cold again on his way to the back of the castle. "I will not pry, but something tells me Kagome may be less than perfectly happy at the moment. Also, is it not unsafe for her to be without protection?"

"Sango's in there," Inuyasha argued, but weakened his point by staring at her for another awkward second, backing up slowly, and then taking off at a quick trot for the nearest side entrance.

Kaede allowed herself a tolerant smile, then adjusted her conical hat and made her way into the shrine, feeling her way around the familiar little space in the early darkness. It was going to be a long day, that…was…what was that?

Frowning, she bent down slowly to more closely inspect a small, dark object draped across her seat, then pick it up and examine the stiff fabric warily. Whatever it was, it didn't look threatening, but it certainly hadn't been here last night. _Perhaps Inuyasha might know. I should wait till later to ask, though. Likely it's not important……Wait a moment, this is—_

_

* * *

_

Inuyasha happened upon one of the girls from outside as he was passing by the kitchen. "Inuyasha-sama?" she asked timidly. He paused, and she rushed on, "Has Kagome-sama been able to eat anything yet?"

'_Been able to eat'? _That didn't sound good. "I dunno. Haven't been in there yet. Why?"

"Well, she was having difficulty breathing before…" She shrugged. "It sounds like most of it's stopped. If you'll excuse my saying so, I've never seen anyone cry so hard in my life."

The last word was delivered to nothing: Inuyasha was gone. She stared, shrugged again, and went to the kitchen. Maybe one of her sisters would know why Inuyasha-sama had ignored them earlier despite Kagome-sama's evident distress; if not, they could figure something out between them. The day was still young.

* * *

Kagome's room was quiet, with no sound of any kind audible from the hall. Inuyasha took a deep breath and let it out, willing the chorus of _ShitwhatdidIdo _to stop repeating itself in his head. He hadn't done anything that he knew of, particularly nothing worthy of a major breakdown, but it wouldn't hurt to…be…sure…that Kagome had the bracelets off. Her smell was very fresh, almost tastable over his niece's stale odor from yesterday morning, and it was doing all sorts of things to his head when he needed it very clear. _Dammit, not again. Just think of something else. Anything else. Don't need this crap getting in the way, 'specially when it's not gonna happen. _Inuyasha could take it. He'd been all but voluntarily neutered his whole life, and one noseful was not going to break his brain when Kagome was upset and _not _thinking along the same lines he was.

…_There. _He was back under control. Inuyasha put a hand on the shoji, inhaled, and let it out, sliding the screen open. "Oi, Kagome. You okkk—"

"You should learn to knock, y'know." Only partly aware that his brain was in roughly three hundred pieces, Kagome crossed her arms defensively. "Where've you been? You're soaked."

"I told you it was immodest," Sango said from between Kagome's legs, stretched out on the bed with her head pillowed on her arms.

"Hey, I happen to be deep-fried, remember? Bikini tops just so happen to not touch anywhere I got burned. I'm being practical." Kagome adjusted her lone upper garment, grimacing, and resumed kneading her friend's shoulders. "How's that?"

"Mmm." The slayer's eyes closed. "Find something else to stare at, Inuyasha. You look like the houshi-sama."

"Sango-chan!" Kagome protested. "He's not _that _bad!"

"Feh." Inuyasha gave himself a mental punch in the gut and followed Sango's advice. A calico kitten was lying on the bed, curled up on the pillow next to Shippou. "Not those again. How do they keep getting in here?"

"It's my room. If Inu-chan wants to come in, she comes in." Kagome switched to an up-and-down, vigorous series of chopping motions.

The slip was annoying as hell, but at least he'd recovered. Just so long as it didn't interfere with his ability to talk and listen normally…wait. "Inu—_what_?"

"Inu-chan. It fits her, don't you think?" Her smile was beautifully innocent and pure evil.

"The hell it does! It's a _cat_!" Inuyasha finally remembered to come in, closing the shoji and bringing a significantly unpleasant smell with his seat on the floor. "Your head's on the wrong way. And where are the rest of those things you call clothes?"

"My head's on perfectly fine, and my shoulders hurt, so I'm just going to stay here and be indecent for a little while," Kagome said reasonably. "Isn't that right, Inu-chan?"

"You—!" He had to bite it off as the kitten stretched under her light stroke, wheezing through its nose in its sleep.

Kagome beamed at him again, then made a rude noise without changing expressions. Oddly, the sound reminded him of his intention in visiting, and he let her think he was eyeing her in irritation, not concern.

Sure enough, her eyes were still red. Beneath the sleeping calico, pillow reeked of sweat…some highly interesting things he was going to ignore, and plenty of tears. Shit. How could he phrase this delicately…? "So, what the hell happened now? Someone die last night without telling me?"

Oops. By the way her whole body twitched, that wasn't it. Sango growled something under her breath that he decided to let slide, considering how much grief he could smell her body giving itself.

"I'm fine, Inuyasha," Kagome said after a significant pause. "I just had some really bad dreams and freaked everyone out when I woke up. Sango didn't sleep that well, either, so I'm trying to knock her out now without her having to take anything."

Inuyasha snorted softly. "Musta been something pretty bad. Smells like you were at it almost all night."

"Appearances aren't always deceiving," she muttered before she could help it. Then, to cover herself and with the subject fresh at hand, Kagome sobered and turned to look at him, smiling apologetically. "It was pretty bad. We've got some new marching orders, too, as soon as we're all up and about. While we're here, though, I'm sorry if I said or did anything weird the other night. I didn't mean to put you in that position, handling the weird drunk girl, so…"

"Yeah, she was crying about _you_," Shippou said accusingly, unaware that Kagome had gone pale and Inuyasha's heart attempted to turn itself inside out. "What did you do, anywmph!"

"That's enough, Shippou-chan, _thank you_," Kagome said sweetly, with such a deadly air that the kit nodded rapid-fire till she let him go and then scrambled under the bed. She sat got up and down on the edge of the bed, knees crossed as she regarded Inuyasha more calmly. "Just forget about it, Inuyasha, okay? All I did was some emotional laundry. Think of it that way."

Confusion threatened again. He couldn't go through that again, not so soon, with her right here…but he had to ask: "What do you mean?"

"Easy. I got a lot of old clothes and stuff with stains and food and crap on it that _some _people never washed, so I did it for 'em. Replace clothes with feelings, and you get the idea. The stains are still there, but at least they smell a lot nicer." She raised her hands in a matter-of-fact gesture. "Get it?"

Inuyasha thought he did. "Hell no, I don't get it! You never make any fucking sense!"

"An auspicious start to the day," Miroku's voice cut in smoothly from the hall. He slid open the shoji. "Good morning, dearest Sango, Inuyasha, and _he_llo, Kagome-sama. They—that is, you're looking well. How did you all sleep?"

"It's not even noon, and you already have a death wish, houshi-sama?" Sango's eyes were still closed, but they didn't have to be open for her to know how he'd be received right about now. "I slept very poorly, thanks to no one in particular."

"I see." The monk frowned, glancing at each of them in turn, and visibly came to a decision. "Then we'll see how you farein more comfortable surroundings. Please pardon me, Kagome-sama…" Somehow, his staff remained out of the way long enough for him to cross the room, pick Sango up and adjust her to their mutual satisfaction. "If you'll excuse us."

"Houshi-sama, this is ridiculous. What's everyone going to say? I'm not crippled, just a little tired. Put me down." The complaints had a halfhearted ring to them, though, and as Miroku maneuvered the shoji closed behind him, her head was already nestled against his shoulder in a distinctly un-rebellious fashion.

"Damn. Didn't even think of her," Inuyasha muttered, demurring at Kagome's glare. "C'mon, she's been okay in a little heat before, and she usually gets sick at night anyway, you said."

"It was _hot _in here last night," Kagome pointed out, "and that wasn't the only thing. I stressed her out, too, plus she got sick when she got a whiff of this stuff." The small grey bottle appeared in her hand from under the pillow. "I like it, but sometimes weird smells just make you feel bad when you're pregnant."

"Geez. Hope I didn't kill her." The smell of wet hanyou was not pleasant, and he knew it. "So where are those brace-things?"

"Bracelets? I think they're around here somewhere…" Crap, she'd forgotten all about them. "Sorry. Let me look for ow ow ow." She had moved too fast to peek over the side of the bed and instinctively froze halfway. "Shippou-chan, do you see any?"

"Yeah, here you go," the kit replied, holding one silver loop out from underneath the mattress.

"Gimme that." Inuyasha snatched it away and perched on the edge of the bed, motioning her back without touching. "Lie down and quit moving, Kagome, or you're gonna find some way to kill yourself by accident."

"Can't find the other bracelets like this," Kagome mumbled, stiffly turning onto her stomach.

"Forget those for a minute. Everything smells like you anyway, and it's not gonna kill me." With his angry reminders about That fresh in mind, Inuyasha found he could almost entirely ignore her scent's side effects and just enjoy having the rest of it back. That was partly what had made him so angry, he now realized: he'd been afraid their friendship would be ruined. Not so, apparently, thank everything that might accept credit. "Now stay still and quit finding ways to hurt yourself. Got it?"

"I'll go see if they've made her breakfast yet," Shippou piped up from the floor.

"Good idea, runt." He'd be nice again and let the kid get away from the smell of wet dog for a while.

"You sure you don't mind?" Kagome asked cautiously as the shoji closed, leaving them alone save for the sleepy kitten. If he could smell everything she'd been feeling last night, she might as well ask the Jewel to get the ground to swallow her right now.

"I said to forget it." His haori sleeves were too wet to keep his hands in. Inuyasha rested them on his knees and assessed her nearly bare back as professionally as he could. "You don't look all that red. Does it still hurt?"

"Yeah. It doesn't stop for a couple of days after it fades, and it'll probably look worse when there's more light." She held up the grey bottle, examining the makeshift lid she'd tied on to keep the strange gel from spilling. "This stuff would help, but Sango can't do it and Shippou's not coming back till you dry off, and my arms don't go that way…"

He couldn't stop a snort. "I stink that bad, eh?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "But I probably smell worse most of the time. I don't think I've taken a good bath in a couple of days now. You can probably smell every molecule of dirt on people anyway, right?"

"Worse than me? No way. You smell better dirty than most humans do after they soak for hours." Inuyasha wondered if she was hinting at something, or if his imagination was acting up.

Kagome flushed, hiding her double-red face amongst the bunched sheets. "I do not. I've been sweating like a pig with gland problems, and besides, I can smell myself, and it's stinky. So there."

He would've left it if she'd just accepted the compliment. But nothing could be that easy with her, he remembered with an exaggerated eye-roll. "If you say so. I can smell a fart downwind from a mile off, so you'd think I'd know, but whatever you wanna think is fine."

"Oh, really?" She turned her head, chin pressed into her shoulder to watch him sideways. "Okay, then, fine. I smell like a fart."

"No! That's not what—" Inuyasha growled as she began giggling. "Look, you don't stink, all right? You don't smell like a fart. You're more like…like…"

"Like what?" she pressed, amusement fading under his scowl. _This oughta be good. I'll probably be sorry I asked._

"I dunno. It's hard to put it in words. Scent's too basic for that. You smell someone, and you just kinda feel whatever you feel when you think of 'em. It works the other way, too. If it smells like rotten fish somewhere, I think of Sesshoumaru, except I don't see him, I just want to kill something.'" Kagome giggled again, wrinkling her nose at the mental image. "See how that works?"

She nodded. "So, going on that, what does…say, Shippou smell like?"

"Annoying" was the prompt response. "Never stays in one place for more than two seconds, too much fur, and he doesn't keep it clean enough. And he's got you on him a lot from when you feed him, which you do too much, by the way."

"I'll be sure to include starving in his daily beatings from now on. …What about Miroku?"

"The bouzu? Good guy. Keeps to himself more than you'd think, and he bathes more than most guys around here. You've probably figured out that his drooling all over everyone in sight's just for fun, Sango's got him by the nuts anyway…. He's in a lot of pain nowadays from that thing on his hand, too."

"Really?" That took a lot of the fun out of the conversation. _How do I keep forgetting about that? Some friend I am… _"That's awful."

"Yeah, Sango's always worrying about him. She's not feeling that great, either. I didn't even know she was knocked up; I figured she was sick, and it was weird 'cause she never gets sick. Toughest woman I ever met. Not like some girls, always getting burned or cut or puking all over the place…"

"Pffft on you. …Okay, just for that…" Kagome got up on her elbows, wincing. "What about me?"

Inuyasha stared back at her. His expression was unreadable, and his voice neutral, when he spoke almost half a minute later. "Clean."

"…Clean?" Should she be disappointed, or relieved? "Did the laundry thing throw you off that much?"

He made an impatient noise. "Stupid. When I smell you, I think of not having to worry about what you think about me, 'cause most people can't wait to get away from me. I'm a hanyou, so I'm impure by definition…you know, like a walking, talking piece of crap. _You_ never make me feel like you have to go take a bath as soon as you can get away from me. You piss me off, and you do sweat a lot, but you're supposed to do that—sweat, I mean. Point is, I like your scent. It makes me think of being relaxed, and I don't get that much. You got that?"

"Oh." Her face was warmer than ever, but Kagome didn't want to break off Inuyasha's slightly annoyed but very earnest gaze. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Thanks?" He blinked. "For what?"

"For telling me that. Sometimes I think all I do is cause you a lot more trouble than I'm worth." Kagome had to look away now, or she was going to give away a bit too much for Inuyasha to have to deal with. _That's right, he doesn't know that Kikyou told me…I think. …Crap, that's right, I have to tell them—_

"You don't." His tone made her look around sharply, which in turn made her stiffen and drop right back down. "You moron, I told you not to move!"

"Shut up. …What're you doing?" He had taken the grey bottle from her. "Inuyasha?"

"Will it work if I just let some drop on there?" More of the bottle itself fell to the floor, new lid and all, as he cut it open and examined the contents again. Fixing her back was the least he could do after he'd shortchanged her scent's description. It wasn't his fault for not being good with words, but…

"It might. Try it." _Just use your hands, unless you think touching me is somehow going to force you into…well… _Thoughts of how this scenario could end flitted through her mind. _If this was a romance novel…. Crap. _"Just try it."

"I heard you the first time, wench." Without warning, Inuyasha leaned over and dribbled a thin line onto the reddest area, right belowthe choker. His right ear flicked uncomfortably at her yelp. "No stuff, then?"

"No! I mean, no, yes stuff. It's just really cold." She paused, screwing up her courage. Not being able to see him helped a little, but not much. "Could you spread it around a little? I don't want it getting in my hair."

It was nowhere near her hair, which was bundled up well off her neck. Inuyasha weighed his options…and grunted an assent. "Lemme know if I nick you." _This is stupid. We've gotten a lot closer, and nothing happened. …Nothing much._

The bluish gel was cool on his callused fingertip, warming almost instantly as he applied feather-light pressure to stroke the stuff away from her hairline and down her shoulder. Her sigh was so appreciative that Inuyasha paused, glanced at the bottle, then leaned over again and let a huge blob drop right onto her neck.

"AAAUGH!" was her not-as-appreciative response. 

He got up, set the bottle down on the floor and seated himself closer to her head. "What? I thought it was supposed to help."

"That's _cold_!" Kagome nearly growled as he began smoothing it over her shoulders. "And you were telling _me_ not to use too much of it, remember?"

Inuyasha shrugged, adding his thumb to the finger spreading the gel. "Shimoko'll be back soon. She'll probably give you some more if you ask."

"Yeah…" The will to argue was quickly eroded by the cool tingle on her inflamed skin. Her eyelids decided to close up shop, muscles relaxing all over her body in agreement. "Whatever this stuff is, I think I'm in love. Get some a little further down, please?"

He complied. "Feels weird. Wonder what's in it."

"Mmm. Less talk, more stuff."

She wasn't serious about that, of course, but they lapsed into silence anyway. On second thought, it was probably for the best; her sleep-deprived, emotionally drained mind vastly preferred to contemplate how nice it was to not have to move or think and just lay there instead while Inuyasha covered her in whatever-it-was. Minus the sunburn and the smell of half-dry hanyou, it would've been quite erotic; still, Kagome could think of ten thousand worse ways to spend her time, and she sleepily reminded herself that coming on to him was a no-no. _Things They Don't Tell You In School, Number 83: sex _can _be more trouble than it's worth. …Well, they probably do tell us that, except no onepays attentionbecause we're stupid kids._

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was enjoying Kagome's enjoyment and wondering whether her skin felt so soft because of the gel, or because she was human and their bodies were about as durable as wet rice paper. Either way, he found himself brought up a little short when he ran out of shoulder to cover, with a generous glob of blue stuff left on his forefinger. "Kagome."

She forced her eyes open. "Hmm?"

"You want some of this somewhere else?" Inuyasha moved back so she could sit up. "Yeah, your face got torched, too. Here." He swiped the rest off her neck and held it up.

"Oh. Good thinking." Kagome carefully gathered the remnants on his fingers onto hers, then smeared her face with it. "Bet this is thrilling you to death. Maybe you should go check how the guys are doing outside."

"Nah, they just needed help getting the trunk out of the way. They've been working without me breathing down their necks since they got here. 'Sides, something's still after you, remember?"

Wow. She'd actually forgotten about that, too. "Yeah, yeah, that. Speaking of which, where's Shippou? I'm starving."

Inuyasha scowled. "I'm serious, Kagome. I'm surprised nothing's happened already as it is."

"Well, it's been raining, right? The kugutsu can't move around much as it is now. Just stay grumpy and we'll be fine." She winked at him. Then she did it again, and again. "Ow. I think I got some in my eye."

"Stupid." If she wasn't going to take the threat seriously… _Maybe 'cause _she_ didn't dream about her getting skewered by one of those things. _"You should stay in here for a couple of days, till Shimoko gets back and we figure out what to do—if nothing happens before then, anyway."

"And if I don't die of boredom first." Her eye slowly came back open. "Did I get it all, or is there blue on my face?"

"Hold still…" Using one knuckle, claws' business ends curled away, Inuyasha delicately edged a stray line off the side of her nose. "There." He wiped it off on her cheek; that would have been that, except his knuckles lingered for a moment of their own accord, fingers uncurling just a tad against her jaw, and Kagome unconsciously leaned into it, resting her own hand on his forearm.

For no reason he could have pinned down, that tiny gesture dropped the bottom from Inuyasha's stomach. It was almost catlike, completely spontaneous and so affectionate that he hastily withdrew his hand in alarm.

"What's wrong?" Had even that much unsolicited touching weirded him out? Kagome cocked her head. "Inuyasha?"

All the heat that had been working its way from her skin flooded back as he raised his hand again and skimmed his thumb across her cheek, resting his palm against the side of her head awkwardly for a second. "You…"

There went her heart again—it was going to wear her ribs down if this kind of thing kept happening. "I…what?"

Plenty of things came to mind: she was beautiful, he was happy to be here, he didn't get her, nothing was going to happen because of lots of reasons… "You smell really…clean."

Beat of silence. "…You…said that."

He blinked. "No, I didn't. I said that's what you make me think of."

"Oh." Was there a difference? Did it matter? His hand was drifting away from her face, almost reluctantly. She lightly took hold of his wrist, nuzzled the rough palm and brought it away to clasp between her smaller, softer ones. "And you, Inuyasha, _your _smell…"

Oh, crap. The scent was going straight to his head. All he could do was stare at his hand—what was it with her and playing with his hands? _And ears, and hair and everything else… _"Yeah?"

"You…" Kagome leaned in closer, then a little closer, till he could count the creases in her lips and discern smaller bits of blue on her skin. She had a slight case of morning breath; it would have been mildly unpleasant coming from someone else. "I just have one question, and I want you to be honest, please, as a favor to me."

_That's not fair…! _Did she know that he'd agree to pretty much anything right now if it would get him out of this? "Y…" He had to swallow. "Yeah? What?"

Kagome smiled, allure undiminished by her wrinkled nose. "How often do you wash your haori?"

* * *

He could hardly restrain his disgust with the whole proceedings. Yesterday had been highly amusing, a large part of which had stemmed from anticipation of today's discoveries and their reactions to it—but not yet. Instead, that stupid copy – that pathetic shell – was at it again, verbally sparring with the hanyou in the most inane fashion imaginable. If his present form had allowed him a stomach, it would have been knotted with the effort of remaining quiescent instead of rising to kill them both and have done with it.

…No, he had waited this long, and he _would _control himself a little longer. Just a little longer, he cautioned himself, drawing his presence down deeper and smaller lest one of the idiots somehow detect him. _He _had learned the value of patient, careful planning, and even more patience in waiting for those plans to come to fruition. _He _would not lose his temper or make any rash decisions, as he knew Inuyasha would soon do, to both his and that worthless girl's ruin. It was all a matter of time and patience, really, both of which he possessed in abundance. Strange, how no one had ever—

"_I thought as much."_

Panic surged, scattering other thoughts like frightened sparrows. One wild moment had him teetering on the edge of escape, leaping from his hiding place into safety rather than face that voice's owner at long last. But he halted just in time, self-possession returning almost instantly as he recalled his physical location and how exposed he would be in leaving it at that moment, with the Jewel's power strangely resistant to him since the previous night. Instead, his equilibrium intact, he was able to reply with bland, mute urbanity in seconds: _Kikyou. How pleasant to hear your voice after listening to this brainless trollop for so long. Have you been well?_

There was the slightest of pauses; cautious in death, as in life, he thought with grim amusement. _"What are you waiting for?" _she finally asked.

Amusement grew; he wished for a mouth and the satisfaction of his favorite smirk, an expression that had infuriated his enemies to no end. His silent voice conveyed the same sentiment almost as well, though. _What other deadline would I await, dear priestess? They have perhaps twenty days left by my count. I wouldn't miss the outcome for anything in the world, except of course—_

"_Spare me. You know full well that _I _am now beyond even your grasp." _He let a flicker of his annoyance show; there was no point in hiding it, as they both knew it was true. _"Like you, though, I retain…certain interests here. Your opinion of my reincarnation means nothing to me, nor do your plans for her…unless they might affect Inuyasha. Dare I assume that they might do just that?"_

The smile was back in his empty words now: _Beyond my grasp? Naturally. All the more reason to know that I couldn't possibly do any damage to you…or improve upon Inuyasha's situation, of course. _He reveled in her imperceptible flinch, the briefest possible moment of pain shown and just as quickly buried. _Still, I disapprove of waste, and the method of your death was something quite special to Inuyasha. Little point in devising a new one, with such a nostalgic possibility so close at hand. How would he like it if I were to reuse it…no, to let _him _reenact it?_

"_You're bluffing."_

_Am I? Look closely at them, Kikyou. Your beloved Inuyasha has been proven innocent, and so been rewarded with the right to die for you in turn—but what about that girl? You lacked the benefit of _knowing_ your future with Inuyasha and still conducted your part in the debacle with all the dignity I so…admired, while she throws herself at him for anything he might spare before meeting you again. Such a desperately misguided little thing…as Inuyasha has also noticed. What will his answer be when she begins to truly understand the situation and reacts with even less forbearance than what you've observed?_

_"I give you last chance to speak before I destroy you!"_

His laughter rang through the depths of their tiny world, echoing in ever-louder, soundless waves till he could hardly regain his composure from unfettered glee. _I hardly know how to answer! Pardon me, dear Kikyou, but I would have expected such a response from Inuyasha, not you! _Still radiating dark merriment, he had only to pause a moment to organize his thoughts. _If you had the power to destroy me utterly, you would have done so _much _longer before, and if you cannot kill me all at once, you know better than to waste time in trying! _His tone dropped, amusement more spiteful now. _And in order to try, you would have to have the _power _to hurt me. Without your precious Jewel under rein, that would hardly be possible, would it? …Now, there's no need to get angry. I know you wouldn't kill me now even if you had the chance. And why, as that lovesick little whore might ask?_

"_You seem unusually intent on her physical state. As I recall, you never had to stoop to impugning a woman's virtue before." _It was her turn to be amused as her target gave himself away with a slight reaction. _"Jealous, are you? Again?"_

_Because you're as curious as I am. _Unadulterated malice snaked through the words. _What will do you if I am rooted out and she propositions Inuyasha directly? For that matter, what will _he _do? The dog has a new mistress, one with flesh and blood, willing to share it any time he asks. Why should he remain loyal to a long-dead tangle of impure thoughts quite unsuited to the woman he wanted in your life?_

"_Begone." _That was all he knew before the Jewel suddenly flared, knocking him back into dark insensibility; but that was all he needed to know. For Kikyou had been listening, Naraku knew with immense satisfaction, even as he fell. And if she had shown a fatal weakness in trusting Inuyasha before, what would she do now as an angry ghost? What would the girl do, and Inuyasha?

Whether Kikyou liked it or not, events were in motion, having been set thus over five hundred years ago. Oh, yes, not even she could take the sheer joy of watching lives fall apart in a shower of blood and tears from him, not now.

All he had to do…was wait.

* * *

A/N: …Yo.

Announcements: this chapter is underedited because I'm leaving for my cousin's wedding and then vacation right after that, and doing so in a few hours – why do I never write these things under the influence of at least _some _sleep? – not to mention an icky sore throat, probably from work and all the sick people therein.

I know a lot of y'all have left your e-mails along with questions, comments, candlestick maker, and so on, but…well, frankly, I never remember to answer, and then I feel horribly neglectful, plus some of these things bear repeating for everyone's edification. Sooo I went and started a LiveJournal community,neverendingfic (just like that, no underscores), where I will make a big ol' Q and A as soon as I get 'round to it. Whee.

In the meantime, I have a night job with long hours and am moving to school in a few weeks. This chapter took so long because I've been backtracking like crazy, trying to marshal my little outline and all the stuff that threw itself in without being invited and account for everything as it all starts to think about coming together, and I'd much rather have a few of you act as if I wait so long between updates purely for amusement – I don't, by the way – than crank out a big mess of plot holes to placate everyone. This chapter was largely born of the need to let you all know I live…and to plug my community, once I get back and start poking at it properly.

Lastly, if you like reading Fruits Basket fics, try a purdy newish one on this site called "A Bump in the Road," as I am beta-ing it and it therefore doesn't suck mwa ha ha ha hubris time for bed now.


	39. The Storm Breaks

**Disclaimer: **Knock knock.

Who's there?

..I don't own Inuyasha!

…

…One order of seppuku, coming right up…

**A/N: **Hey, all. Been a while, eh? Moving and a new semester of big-kids school and repeated illness and the death of your only remaining grandparent and hurricanes that never materialize in one's area but worry you anyway and finals and removing tend to block up creative outlets like this. You get what you pay for, I guess.

By popular request – i.e. two separate people have suggested it – here's a brief recap of what happened last time:

**Brief Recap of What Happened Last Time: **Kagome figured out that she propositioned Inuyasha when she was drunk. It was stormy and humid and too hot, so she lay there and angsted for a while, secure in the knowledge that Inuyasha was no happier than she was, then cried herself to sleep; an odd dream about naked poker, a visit from her mom, then Midoriko intervening to show her a bit of Kikyou's memory commenced, in which we saw what we pretty much already knew (Kikyou didn't like her job, nor having the hots for Inuyasha). Kikyou herself popped up afterwards to add that Inuyasha was on a strict, self-imposed, lifelong no-nookie diet thanks to Fluffy's declaration that he would kill any girl who might even have the slightest chance of being able to have Inuyasha's kid. Joy!

An argument broke out as to whether the plan to use the Jewel really would've worked, and Kikyou contradicted her advice from the day before by asking Kagome if she's thought of accepting Inuyasha, the same way she asked _him _about it some time before; apparently, something or another had happened to make haste advisable in seeking out Naraku before he popped up and killed her, which would suck for everyone concerned. As this is Kikyou talking, she gave no reason as to what marrying Inuyasha and killing Narkie-poo had in common, and no other details came up before Sango woke Kagome up. Kagome decided to expunge some of the dream's _and _her own residual frustration by immediately having a good cry, loud enough for everyone inside to hear. Speculation ensued amongst the servants, to no one's surprise.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha spent a sleepless night agonizing over a lot of things, not all of them specified, and went for a run outside, where it was thundering in an unpleasantly mood-matching fashion. Lightning zapped a tree, and he got the men to help clear the branches away from the shrine, which Kaede entered as soon as possible, and in which she found a Something, dun dun dun.

Inuyasha got to go inside and see Kagome atop Sango in only a bikini top and shorts, as the latter was also sleep-deprived and receiving a massage. Miroku took her to his room for sleeping purposes – one hopes – and Shippou escaped wet-dog smell by going to get breakfast, which meant only a kitten bore witness to gel application, vital inquiries as to how Inuyasha catalogues smell, and Kagome flattening him with an anticlimactic double Sexy Look and Stupid Question combo.

Fair warning: this puppeh is 34 pages in Word. HOOGE.

**Beast**

**Chapter 39**

When her attempts to apologize and/or worm an actual answer out of Inuyasha merely threw him deeper into Sulk On The Floor mode, Kagome gave up and stretched out with her back to him, closing her eyes with a little sigh. The notion of going to get food herself or perhaps retrieving some manga from under the bed was appealing, but she suddenly found her eyelids weighed more than the rest of her head combined, a condition prohibitive to movement or intelligent thought; she had only to find a comfortable position on her back and listen to the unaccustomed peace on both sides of her skull for a few minutes before she was out like a broken light.

Inuyasha didn't realize she was actually asleep till she turned over and disturbed the kitten, which mewed crankily at _him_. "The hell you want me to do about it?" he grumbled at her _sotto voce. _"Go sleep somewhere else."

The calico summed up her opinion of the world in general with a long, yawning glare, then got up, streeetched, clambered onto the small of Kagome's back, and curled into a soon-snoring ball.

_Great. _Irritation rose afresh, particularly when he moved to reclaim a spot on the bed and his wet sleeve snagged on something just underneath the metal frame. _Sango's gonna have to clean this place up. _He freed himself with one claw, hopping lightly onto the mattress and sitting cross-legged between Kagome and the wall. If he got the blankets wet by planting his butt in one place too long, well, that was just too damn bad.

His left ear moved to catch a very quiet duet of wheezing noises: girl and cat were breathing in near-perfect synch. _Cute. _It was, actually, sarcasm notwithstanding, and Inuyasha gradually relaxed as the rhythm continued undisturbed.

There wasn't much to look at in the little room, and it took only a few seconds to ascertain that neither the TV nor the things Shimoko had left around it were worth watching. That only left the bed's occupants; in a rare attack of insight, Inuyasha quickly realized the folly of trying _not_ to look at Kagome, and settled for giving her a clinical once-over, beginning and ending above the neck. Nope, nothing wrong: her features were peaceful, the blue stuff was almost dry, and she appeared to be drooling.

Inuyasha snorted gently, leaning down a little closer to her face. Both ears focused to his right for a moment, losing interest when he identified approaching footsteps as an old servant's shuffling gait. There was no reason to be particularly concerned about their situation: even a kugutsu couldn't approach the room without him hearing, smelling or seeing it first, no matter what form it took or weird tricks it used.

…Not to mention that his mind was just getting too damn tired of emotional shocks to work itself into its usual knots about what might happen if he did or didn't do this or that. If he was here to protect Kagome, and she wasn't upset about anything for the moment, that was good enough.

Remembering the river and Shimoko's rebuke for having let his guard down, he sat up a little straighter, trying not to let himself relax _too _much. He didn't have to actively worry about it to know that there was no telling what Naraku might try to pull with the curse's end rapidly approaching, or that he would be impossible to fight head-on till he chose to come out. _Fucking coward. Where the hell is he hiding, anyway? _This room was safe, so far as Inuyasha could tell, but the rest of the castle and grounds would have to be searched before he'd let Kagome wander around unguarded.

"Frog sauce needs more…diamonds," the girl mumbled, breaking him out of his reverie.

It took a moment to confirm that she had not, in fact, made any sense. "…The hell?" Sure enough, she was deeply asleep. _Weirdo._ Inuyasha watched her turn her head to rest against her other arm, shifting about till her hip rested against his knee. He glanced at it, decided there was no immediate danger, and occupied himself instead by stroking the kitten's head with one finger. The little creature half-woke, batted at him, and missed, then clumsily leaped onto his arm in order to grab his hand and begin gnawing his palm. Her back legs joined in, pushing reflexively against his forearm till she had to wriggle back into position to maintain the battle.

"Stupid cat." Inuyasha flexed his fingers so that the business ends were out of feline reach, otherwise letting the kitten have her way with him. He could barely feel the needlelike teeth prickling his skin, and if the little pain in the ass was busy attacking _him_, Kagome could sleep in relative peace.

A few moments later, his eyes strayed back to the girl and stayed there. _Like I'd ever let any of those stupid hags wash fire-rat fur. Moron. _The superiority tingeing that last bit was only partly spoiled by a self-conscious sniff at his free sleeve. _Doesn't stink _that _bad. …Does it?_

"Twelve cups of cinnamon to Portland," Kagome muttered.

"What the hell is…never mind." _Gotta ask Sango if this is normal for her. _He wouldn't put much past Kagome, that was for sure.

A deft movement of his other arm blocked Inu-chan's sudden attempt to reclaim her spot on Kagome's back. "Why don't you go somewhere else now? Like the bottom of the river?" She fell onto her side, chewing his sleeve and then her threadlike tail with absentminded vigor.

Well, here he was again, keeping Kagome safe...from a baby animal the size of his fist. This wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind when he came in earlier, that was for sure. _Feh. If she can cry her eyes out, turn around and pretend to hit on me just to give me a heart attack, then_ _fall asleep, not much is wrong._

His decent mood faded somewhat as his gaze followed the fluid curves of her hips, down bare sides and up her back, coming to rest on the scar defacing the shoulder nearer him. He'd hardly noticed it lately, even when he passed over it applying the gel. Funny, that she didn't seem to mind so much anymore if it showed, either…

That gave his spirits an unexpected lift. If being near-forced to talk about it had helped her get over her self-consciousness, that made at least one benefit Kagome had gotten out of her time here. …Granted, a drop of good in a river of very _bad _was nothing to brag about, but it was something.

Emboldened by the thought, Inuyasha ran his thumb across the scar's thick edges, depressing the shiny flesh in renewed curiosity. He couldn't suppress a stab of gratitude that _his _hide was considerably tougher and quicker-healing: otherwise, he'd be patterned with old scars like a Chinese tiger demon. His mind's eye crossed painfully just trying to picture it.

Kikyou's blood-soaked corpse flickered across the mental image just as he was starting to enjoy it, startling him badly enough to make him inadvertently dump the little cat onto Kagome's rear and half-wake them both. Cursing, Inuyasha held his breath till the girl wriggled the kitten off and resumed snoozing. _Shit. _He dropped onto his elbow, reclining on his side next to her, breathing deeply to calm down. It had been a while since he'd had one of those moments. The worst part of them was always the attached recollection of how, immediately after his mother had ordered him away from the body, his first reaction had been to find someplace quiet and be violently sick, a reaction he hadn't been treated to before or since. He couldn't help worrying that he might remember it a little too vividly one of these days and_…ew._

There was no such danger this time: the worse that happened in the next few minutes was that Inu-chan clambered into his hair, got entangled, and settled in for another nap, guaranteeing that he wouldn't be able to remove her without a lot of mutual grief. "You get lost in there, I'm not cutting you out," he murmured.

Kagome half-grunted in her sleep, shifting around in a distinctly uncomfortable fashion. Inuyasha patted her back without thinking, then did it again when his callused palm made an interesting sound against her gel-dried skin. When it became clear he wasn't hurting or bothering her, he indulged his impulse to hear that weird little rasp again, over and over, with only the gentlest pinprick of ingrained guilt. _She asked me to put the stuff on. Why would she care if I touched her now? _

She wouldn't, of course. That was the recurring problem. But maybe, if he didn't let pointless guilt or his baser instincts get to him…well, nothing had come of their spending so much time close together, had it? Hell, they'd done more than this already, and neither of them had dropped dead or been struck by lightning or whatever he'd been led to believe would happen if he forgot his place. Besides, the alternative was to treat her like a leper or ignore her completely till the curse was up, and that definitely wouldn't work. He'd just go nuts, and – even worse – hurt her feelings in the process.

_Sheez. _The very concept was still a little hard to fit beneath his ears—hadn't he just about imploded thanks to her insistence on being, not just near, but _with _him? Having direct influence over someone else's well-being outside the possibility of murdering them was weird enough, but knowing he could really hurt the person he liked and trusted most of anyone he'd ever met…it was almost scary. On second thought, Inuyasha wasn't even sure he was happy with that kind of responsibility. Too easy to screw up, and too hard to fix it, that was the problem.

"You need more cookies," Kagome announced, voice remarkably clear for having been directed into her arm.

A quiet half-snort, half-chuckle escaped him. _Now, _that _word, I know. _"Sure I do, wench," Inuyasha murmured, patting her head gently. She made a noise of assent and turned back over, shifting onto her side facing him.

That weird feeling he'd come to associate with Kagome crept over him again, a sense of utter peace only slightly marred by the vague notion that he was doing something wrong to be _this _comfortable. Both were more intense than usual, thanks to his not-quite-functioning brain and that scare she'd given him—what had she been thinking? And after her apology for her drunken behavior, too. She just had to go and bring that up, then get in his face and _then _drop off to sleep…

Even if he'd had the energy for it, though, Inuyasha really wouldn't have been angry, or at least not for long. It would have taken a heart a great deal harder and pointier than his to withstand Kagome's snoring, drooling and mumbling, which, far from making her look pretty but stupid, made her look pretty _and _stupid in an unfairly endearing way, as if the steadily growing affection she'd been dredging out of him the past several weeks wasn't enough. The fact that she was worn out from crying over him and Kikyou was a nice little jab to the nuts, of course, but—

That was it: he realized with a slight start that a huge part of his inner turmoil was just because he flat-out liked her. That was all. It was as if the pent-up anguish and rage he'd let run wild that morning had been blinding him; with their release, he could clearly see that he'd been wasting a lot of time and raw emotion on a problem he hadn't really had in the first place. If Kagome could enjoy being here, why couldn't he enjoy her being here? It wasn't as if her presence would change his decision or the curse itself, and those were the only things over which he had any real control. Why worry about anything else, except maybe Naraku? …And Sesshoumaru? And Kouga, and possibly Kikyou, and…?

Inuyasha frowned, mind flicking leisurely through each one with a minimum of distress. Naraku was definitely a problem, and not one to pass off to Sango and Miroku while he skipped off into the afterlife, but they'd already established that. Fluffy would be a bigger, more permanent pain in the ass; he'd have to ask Shimoko to enlist her mother to help keep him off Kagome's back. Same with Kouga, who seemed to be wary of both Fluffy and Shimoko: temporary alliance or not, Sesshoumaru was no friend of the wolf demons, especially considering what they had done to that little girl he'd ended up with.

Now, that was an interesting recollection. Despite himself, as he played with a free strand of Kagome's hair and kept an ear out for intruders, Inuyasha had to wonder what kind of human could worm her way into Sesshoumaru's shriveled excuse for a heart so thoroughly that he'd not only revived her, but cared for her till adulthood, risked his standing in keeping her too long, provided enough of a dowry to entice a respectable human to marry her, deigned to sleep with her, let the child live _and _volunteered to watch over her descendants. Any one of those factors would have incredible, but all together, it was too much to believe. _Must be one hell of a story. _Inuyasha smoothed Kagome's hair absently. _Like he'd ever tell us. Oh, well. Maybe Shimoko can find out more before I die._

Oops. His mind wasn't so hazy that it didn't mind letting that slip. In fact, it cleared a little, and not in a pleasant way. _Crap. _He took the easy way out, dipping his head to Kagome's neck for a long noseful of gel, sweat, and the light, sweetly indescribable smell that _was _her. Sure enough, his discomfort faded, and annoyance with that black band returned, a foe familiar and trivial enough to be comfortable with.

He'd had more serious ones, not all of them external. Take lust, for example. Inuyasha had been staring at her for several minutes now, less than a foot away from all that heady-scented skin and conspicuous curves, with no one around to judge or stop him—and he hadn't wound up molesting her, or vice versa. If he just let himself look, he could deal with the rest of his stupid body's stupid urges to do stupid things. Why hadn't he been able to figure that out? He wasn't an animal, no matter what some of the servants might say. The fact that the smell of tears effectively killed any mood her _other _scent might provoke had nothing…well, not too much to do with it. _Now, just lemme stay half asleep and keep her all the way asleep for the rest of the time, and we'll be okay._

Kagome mumbled something that sounded a lot like his name, confirming it somewhat by flopping back onto her stomach and moving up against him. He scooted back reflexively, not out of aversion, but to avoid pressing her sunburn. _Shit, does she _like _hurting herself, or what? _His head drooped till his cheek rested against her jaw again. _Moron. _His eyes decided there was no point in staying open; sleep deprivation heartily agreed, pointing out that his ears and nose were still on duty. A moment of rearrangement assured him he wouldn't smother her, and then he could use her neck as a pillow without so much as a twinge of worry. _There. _

He had no way of knowing that the red was slowly fading from his half-closed eyes, or that his stripes had also dimmed quite a bit—or that they snapped back into full vividness the moment he raised his head at her irritated sigh. "Kagome? You okay?"

The girl stirred, squinting despite the room's almost nonexistent light. "Mmmm. Kinda." She mustered the strength to turn onto her side facing the door, and promptly smushed her back right up against his chest, curling herself into a partial ball. "Stupid boobs."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, tapping her shoulder tolerantly. "Yeah, yeah." His brain abruptly backpedaled and tripped over one word as he started to grumble, "You really need to…wait. _What?_" Was she actually awake, or aware of what she'd just said?

"Got PMS, hurts to be on 'em or have arms smushing 'em." He raised his chin to allow her room to shift higher, aware that she was in genuine discomfort, however odd its source might be. As if she sensed his confusion, Kagome followed up with a yawn, then, "Sorry, body gets iffy every so often right 'bout now. Being a girl's no fun."

"Keh." Nothing helpful came to mind, so Inuyasha settled for an involuntary glance at the area in question as she tried to relocate her arms comfortably. It didn't _look_ particularly troublesome to him, but then again, he wasn't female, and he wasn't going to help by staring or asking any more questions. He settled for draping an arm over her hip and wondering at the familiarity of this position despite their having done so…twice? Thrice? _You'd think I'd be able to remember something like that. _Remembering most things pre-Kagome had gotten increasingly weird lately. "Go back to sleep."

Kagome stretched, wriggling till her back – nothing else – was comfortably settled against his chest. "Need more hanyou furniture. Comfy."

His snort ruffled the loose hairs against her temple. "Don't your shoulders hurt, too? …The sunburn, I mean?" He was going to smell like her for days at this rate; somehow, that didn't seem as potentially deadly a prospect as it would've last night. "Too hot for this."

"Then cheer up." Kagome nudged his right arm with her elbow.

"Feh." Comfortable silence took up the slack as she drifted off again, leaving him to ponder the practical advantages of the flimsy black thing she was wearing and how he could convince her not to ever set foot outside her room in it. He didn't have any modern money, and threats would probably backfire. Nor would she probably like being tied to a pillar, even if he got Sango to do it. _Hmm…_

Inuyasha mentally shrugged, burying his face in the sweaty curve of her neck and shoulder. (Was there a name for that part of the body? More importantly, why would he care?) _All I have to do is ask if she wants Kouga ogling her again. _Even the thought made him scowl. Maddeningly clueless as she could be about some things, she had to have seen the wolf's reaction to the last time she'd ran out underdressed. _I might not notice everything, but damned if he wasn't drooling all over the place at her. She can be so friggin' clueless sometimes. Least _I _can tell when someone's staring at—_

"Inuyasha."

No human eye could've tracked his reflexive leap onto all fours, nor the movement in which he jerked his neck around at an unnatural angle to look at the voice's source. "Kikyou! What're you doing up there? I didn't—"

"I know perfectly well you did not see me." From her vantage point a few feet above the foot of the bed, just out of his vision, the priestess 'stepped' down gracefully to the floor. Her expression was tensely blank, the cause easy to guess: in addition to whatever else the priestess had seen, Inuyasha had instinctively flattened over Kagome, as if Kikyou was some kind of threat.

It took him a few seconds too many to remember to push himself back onto his side, then onto his knees. He spared Kagome a glance to be sure she was still asleep, half-consciously comparing her sedate heartbeat to his own shock-fluttering pulse. "Fuck. I didn't mean to—I wasn't doing anything, I just—"

"I see you've thought about it further since we last spoke." Kikyou's eyes closed, a habit that had always made her look more patient and sorrowful than he'd ever been able to stand. This time was no exception. "I came to tell you Naraku is no threat today, and perhaps tomorrow. You need not fear him or his puppets in that time."

As badly as she'd just scared him, Inuyasha suddenly wanted to hold her, so much that he had to press his arms to his sides to keep from leaping at thin air, or whatever ghosts were made of. _Ghosts. _His fists clenched. "How do you know? And what's this you told Kagome about not looking for him, then having to figure him out _now_? What's going on?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Be prepared for a…fairly unpleasant surprise." Kikyou opened her eyes and smiled thinly, regarding Kagome with…no, that had to be his imagination. Why would Kikyou seem to be anticipating whatever it was? "Till tomorrow, you can relax your guard and let her rest. The girl has suffered enough for one morning." Her smile was back to melancholy beauty now, so that he grimly knew he hadn't imagined anything. "'Dirty laundry,' indeed."

_Crap! _"How long have you been in here, Kikyou?"

"I once had a wound very much like that one, there." One arm shimmered translucent as it rose to indicate Kagome's back, solidifying the moment it stopped. "Also a sign of grief and helpless anger. Strange, how these things have a way of repeating themselves."

The atmosphere seemed to hum gently, as if unspoken words could clot the air itself. Thick-tongued, Inuyasha watched her helplessly, flinching when she spoke again. "You've had plenty of time to make a decision. I expect an answer soon, when I explain the particulars in private."

"The…?" His heart did a few double-skips. She was actually going to tell him _why _she'd asked him to think about marrying Kagome? But— "You know what I decided, Kikyou! Why screw with me _now_? Don't tell me you changed your mind!"

He would have given a great deal to take that back: not just the words, but the bitterness that had suddenly welled up, erupting in a snarl with which he had _no _right to address Kikyou. But… "I've been honest with you this whole time! Why can't you trust me enough to tell me anything, especially about Naraku?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I know you are honest, Inuyasha. Exercise that now, and tell me, how do you think the girl will react to that creature's death?"

That was such an odd question that he wasn't sure he was supposed to be able to answer. Kikyou did that sometimes, usually to make a point, and it never failed to frustrate the hell out of him. "What's that supposed to mean? She wants him dead just from what she's heard, about Miroku, and you and me—" Her meaning suddenly hit him like an ogre drop-kicking him in the stomach. "Oh." Inuyasha shook his head irritably, finally dislodging the kitten from her clinging perch. She scrambled onto the pillow and watched in wide-eyed misgiving as he got up, paced to the door, stopped, paced halfway back, and abruptly dropped to his haunches, one foot tapping restlessly. "What the fuck does that have to do with it? You want to keep Naraku alive so you don't have to tell her, or what?"

"Why would _I _tell her?" Kikyou snapped. "If she insists, the truth will suffice. She should know already that the Jewel maintains the curse, and Naraku's death will have no effect save to free it from an unwholesome influence."

"Kikyou…" Inuyasha got up slowly, trying to phrase his next question. Why wouldn't she give him a straight answer for once? "What does that have to do with wherever Naraku's hiding?"

The priestess looked at the bed again, where Kagome was still sound asleep. "The Jewel allowed her father and brother to cross its boundaries with no trouble. Considering her reincarnation in addition to its obvious favor of her bloodline, she may very well have the power to disturb the curse itself. If she becomes overwrought, it may even act on its own in response. A certain degree of preparation is necessary for the entire castle's safety."

"Safety?" He couldn't keep skepticism out of his voice. "She has a bad temper, yeah, but Kagome's not gonna hurt anyone. All she'll do is yell and maybe cry a lot."

"You underestimate the danger. This time, not only your own life is at stake, Inuyasha. Think about it very carefully." Kikyou bowed her head. "I will speak with you again tonight."

"Kikyou, _where is he_?" Inuyasha crossed the room swiftly and made himself stop just short of her. "I swear I won't do anything stupid. Just tell me."

She smiled sweetly, sadness almost overwhelming him again. "I could, but—"

"Shimoko!" The mattress lurched with the force of Kagome bolting upright, then half-tumbling off the bed, stumbling to her feet and racing to the shoji. "Crap, she's here!"

"Kagome, what the hell…?" His neck began to tingle in the almost-itchy, always-annoying manner that signified a demon crossing the barrier. "Hold on a second, will you?"

"Come on!" Without looking back, Kagome flung the shoji open and disappeared down the hall.

"Shit…" Inuyasha glanced back at Kikyou. She was gone. He let out a huge sigh. _Maybe they're doing this on purpose to see when I crack. _Either way, he had no choice but to follow.

As it happened, Souta and Kohaku were just out of Kagome's way as Inuyasha caught up with her outside and politely reminded her about her attire. "…when the whole place can see you almost naked?" he was snapping as the boys approached.

"Hey, Souta, Kohaku-kun," Kagome greeted them, nodding to the other children's deep bows a few feet away. The young slayer's head was still bandaged, but he seemed sturdy enough on his feet. "Shimoko's here. Want to come say hi with us?"

"You're in your underwear," Souta said accusingly.

"Shut up. You're as bad as Inuyasha." She turned to the hanyou long enough to pull her eyelid down and stick her tongue out, ignoring his response in kind. "Now, do you wanna come or not?"

"No need, Auntie. Good morning, everyone." Shimoko approached them from behind with her usual nonchalance, twirling a black umbrella back and forth in her hands against the light drizzle. The castle boys immediately mumbled excuses and vanished, leaving Souta and Kohaku to fidget under the demon's amused gaze. "Guilty consciences? I told you to rest for two more days at the least, boy."

"We were just going to the river to get some more water to wash his head off, so no one else would have to do it," Souta volunteered when Kohaku visibly failed to come up with a suitable answer. "He's feeling a lot better."

"So I see. He escaped without a concussion, then. Very lucky." Souta yelped as the water gun half-hidden inside his borrowed kimono somehow appeared in Shimoko's hand. "It's far too miserable a day to stand around here. Why don't we go someplace private and have a little talk?"

Despite Inuyasha's best efforts, they ended up heading towards the river for that purpose instead of the nicely dry castle, and he fell silent, ostensibly too sulky to join in the small talk, but deep in thought about his conversation with Kikyou. _Dangerous, huh?_

"I have something for you, Auntie," Shimoko announced as soon as they were out of servant earshot, just inside the woods. The demon folded her umbrella, handed it to Kohaku, and pulled a slender folder from her fashionably too-thick coat pocket. "The prints should be fairly waterproof, but you may not want to test that out here."

Kagome took the little packet with a quick bow, lifting the flap just enough to rifle through the contents. "Thank you, Shimoko-san. I'm sure I'll enjoy this—_crap_!" She nearly slammed the paper closed and shoved them into her shorts' shallow back pocket. "What did you do that for?"

"Merely illustration, Auntie," the demon said innocently, ruining the effect with a smirk of criminal proportions.

But she turned serious the moment Souta began to demand to see what looked like several developed pictures, and Inuyasha wondered what could've made her face go quite that shade of red. "That can wait, Souta-dono. I can't stay long, and Sesshoumaru wouldn't like to know I was here, provided he didn't have me followed in the first place. …Where are your bracelets, Auntie? No, that can also wait." She produced a fan from somewhere, flicked it open and waved the humid air about with genteel irritation. "My mother is thinking of paying a visit soon, with or without Sesshoumaru's consent. Would you mind terribly, oji-chan?"

"Nah, that'd be pretty handy," Inuyasha said after careful deliberation. Kagome nodded agreement. "We need to pick her brains about Naraku, and besides, I wanna ask her if she'll deal with Fluffy 'bout this place when I'm gone."

Kagome's hands clenched. "Inuyasha, you—"

Shimoko stiffened, hissing between her teeth. "Dammit!" Her vehemence startled them all. Kagome understood a moment later, then Inuyasha. "Sesshoumaru must've heard when I did, the nosy bastard, and now…" She rolled her eyes, but wasted no time on theatrics: "I have to go now. I'll be back here at sunset, you got that? Take care, good luck, and don't make him kill you, oji-chan."

"That's really cool. I wonder how she does it?" Souta wondered aloud, stepping into the space Shimoko had just vacated.

"Sesshoumaru-sama is coming?" Kohaku looked slightly ill. He glanced around, going paler when he felt behind him and discovered he didn't have his chain-sickle with him. "What does he want?"

_So much for taking it easy._ Inuyasha glanced at the boys, wished momentarily for Miroku and Sango despite her indisposition, and jerked his head behind him. "You guys get out of here. I'll take care of him."

"Who's this guy again?" Souta asked.

"Shimoko's dad. Powerful demon, not a nice guy. Now move it." Kagome could sense Sesshoumaru zeroing in on them from the castle, no doubt scaring most of the servants half to death in the process. "Go that way so you don't have to meet up with him."

Souta scowled in automatic little-brother rebellion. "That's not fair, I...hey! Wait up!" Kohaku had already set off at a trot, forcing the other boy to jog after him, complaining all the way.

"That was easy," Kagome remarked, watching them disappear into the trees. She frowned. "Is it safe for them to be running around alone, with Kohaku-kun still hurt?"

Inuyasha debated filling her in, remembered that he didn't know much more than she did, and shook his head instead. "It's okay for now. You should probably go back, too."

"Indeed." Sesshoumaru didn't bother to come forward as they whirled around; she swallowed reflexively as their eyes met, but stood her ground and let Inuyasha move in front of her. Despite herself, Kagome noticed their visitor hadn't bothered to disguise himself this time: his pristine white feudal clothes were all she could see. _Does he have a closet full of those, or do they just get washed whenever he feels like dressing up?_ She bit the insides of her cheeks before he could notice and get stabby. Somehow, she doubted Sesshoumaru was used to being laughed at.

Unfortunately, the demon's sharp gaze had remained on her and missed very little. "This Sesshoumaru amuses you?"

"Um…no. Private joke, sorry." Kagome forced what she thought to be a bright, cheerful smile, then dropped it when both brothers looked at her as if she'd spontaneously grown a purple beard. _Trust my face to be the one thing that gets them to agree on something_. "What did you want?"

There was the barest pause, juuust enough time for Sesshoumaru to look her over and frown in such a way as to tell her a bikini-clad human teenager was clearly not worth his time. When he spoke, though, it was with unexpected courtesy: "This Sesshoumaru will speak to Inuyasha alone now." He caught her uneasiness and startled her further with a slight smile. "This Sesshoumaru has not come to fight, only to speak to Inuyasha. If he behaves, he will be unhurt and able to tell you…certain things later. At the moment, you have business elsewhere, I believe." His nose twitched, wrinkling very slightly.

Inuyasha bristled, though he knew that gesture hadn't been directed at either of them: the offending smell's source spoke up from behind Sesshoumaru a moment later. "He's right, Kagome. Besides…" The hanyou wasn't the only one considerably irritated when Kouga strolled out towards them, elaborately casual about nearly bumping into the other demon. _Worse than a kid, _Kagome thought in amused disgust. _Souta got over "I'm ignoring you, nyaaa" _years _ago. _

Sure enough, according to the game's unwritten rules, Kouga lost a second later by glancing behind him to gauge Sesshoumaru' reaction – none – accepted his defeat philosophically, and turned his attention back to Kagome. "I told your family where your kid brother was, but they want to hear about it from you." He held up the folded cell phone suggestively. "Why don't we go back to the castle and talk it over with Dad?"

"Where the hell have _you_ been?" Inuyasha folded his arms and shifted to block Kagome from the wolf's sight. To Kouga's credit, he'd kept his eyes almost entirely where they belonged—for now. "And who the hell is 'Dad'?"

Kagome quickly sized up her options: stay, explain Kouga's proprietary attitude, deal with Inuyasha's reaction; go with Kouga, hope Sesshoumaru would leave Inuyasha's limbs on, do damage control later; _or_, most attractive, save a lot of trouble, and go jump headfirst off the highest third-floor balcony. _Sigh_. _Door Number Two it is. _"You guys do need to talk about _things_ here, Inuyasha," she said aloud, pressing his arm urgently to make sure he got the point. "And I should make sure Dad believes Souta hasn't really been eaten by the squirrels, or else he might come out here himself." Inuyasha's expression somehow devolved even further, forcing her to step away before he could point out that neither Yoshio's courage nor his bowels were strong enough for that. "I'll be back out here as soon as I can, okay?"

It was _not_ okay, but she was right. That didn't mean he had to like it, though. Why now? Was karma keeping score, and his brief bout of peace had to be balanced by dealing with almost everyone at once? No, the peace had been in exchange for last night. According to that logic, though, now he was due for—

Inuyasha mentally kicked himself in the groin. "Yeah, go ahead and straighten things out. Just be sure to come back here if the wolf tries anything, you got that?" On impulse, he slipped his haori off and settled it over her shoulders as lightly as the damp material would drape. "Here. Shimoko said you can still get burned when it's cloudy, remember? You don't know how long that stuff'll last."

Her irritation at the wet-blanket feeling died abruptly as she caught Kouga's disappointment and Sesshoumaru's…something, she couldn't quite tell. _Huh. _Kagome shifted the haori around like a red cape. Her legs were still unmistakably visible, but now, it occurred to her, she wouldn't have to walk around with Kouga (un)dressed like this; the servants had more than enough to talk about lately. What they would make of her wearing Inuyasha's clothes was their problem. "Thanks." She smiled at him, bobbing her head gratefully for the thought. "I'll be sure to—"

"Wet dog," Kouga said disdainfully, flapping a hand in front of his nose. "Don't worry, Kagome, you can ditch that thing when we get back to your room."

"You're not going in her room, asshole," Inuyasha snapped over Kagome's sputtered attempt to say the same thing with some semblance of politeness. "Besides, I thought you'd be scared to go anywhere without Fluffy here to back you up?"

"We'regoingnowKougalaterInuyashabuhbye!" Kagome was off at a high-speed trot before the last of her babbling was out. As she'd hoped from Kohaku's example, Kouga stayed long enough to make a rude gesture at Inuyasha and nod curtly to Sesshoumaru, then ran to catch up and ask how she could get sunburned further through clouds.

"Stupid fucking wolf," Inuyasha muttered. It was cold comfort to hear Kagome mumble something about magic, or UV rays, or maybe magic UV rays, and abruptly change the subject.

His half-brother's expression was unreadable, as it had been through most of the exchange, but Inuyasha suddenly got the impression that he didn't disagree with the assessment. "This Sesshoumaru has no interest in 'backing him up,'" the demon said coolly. "A temporary alliance is the best he may hope for, no matter how powerful he thinks himself in comparison to _you_."

Inuyasha snorted, unconsciously easing Tetsusaiga in its polished sheath. "Keh. He'll be lucky if I don't kill him first."

"If you wish. Ownership of land and castle would remain unchanged by his life or death." Sesshoumaru appraised him for a few silent moments. "Whatever childish delusions you still may hold, rest assured our noble father's land shall stay in this Sesshoumaru's hands no matter how the wolf tries to manipulate the girl and her father."

"That dumbass couldn't _manipulate_ dirt into mud," Inuyasha retorted, not caring that his tone earned him a slightly raised eyebrow. "Not even Kagome's dad would be fucking stupid enough to listen to him. Besides, Kagome said she'd get the land protected or something."

Sesshoumaru smiled thinly. "Quite wrong on both counts." Inuyasha started: that tone always preceded something he didn't want to hear and couldn't fix. "She may be first in line to receive her father's property, but so long as he lives, Higurashi Yoshio has every right and plenty of reason to sell this land back to its rightful owner." The demon glanced up, otherwise ignoring the rain's increasing strength. "As to his intelligence, it has been insufficient to convince him that the wolf is not betrothed to his daughter, though that is hardly—"

"Yeah, I _know._ Look, can we get this over with? This weather sucks."

"If you don't like it, calm down." Sesshoumaru raised his head just high enough to look down at his half-brother in utter disdain. "Reports have indicated the girl has strength comparable to her predecessor, more than sufficient to discourage unwelcome advances—so long as they are unwelcome, of course."

"Of course they fucking are!" Never having been well-versed in the nuances of conversation, Inuyasha was far too irate now to recognize a trap, and leapt to the wrong conclusion at the smirk his answer elicited. "What, you think she's stupid enough to get with _him_ just to be safe? And why the fuck would _you_ care, anyway?"

"The same mistake, and with your first woman's reincarnation?" Thunder boomed softly, far-off but painful to Inuyasha's ears as his brother smiled wider, then actually laughed. Inuyasha had never been sure Sesshoumaru _could_ laugh, much less heard it. "How pathetically typical. Perhaps you'll be luckier in courtship this time, and _you_ will be the one to die."

A streak of lightning bisected the sky above Sesshoumaru's head. Tetsusaiga was unsheathed and pointed at Sesshoumaru's chest before thunder crackled in reply. "Take that back _now_, you—" He literally bit the words off, blood seeping down his jaw in warm, swiftly diluted trickles beneath clenched fangs. "Why'd you come here? And why would you care about Kagome, huh? I haven't done anything with her, and I'm not gonna, so you can leave her the hell alone!"

Sesshoumaru frowned again. "Why would this...ah, yes. Of course." His face smoothed out. "That." He tilted his head, eyes half-lidded with apparent indifference. "You have no plans for her, but object to Kouga vying for her attention? A penniless human girl could do far worse than attach herself to the head of a demon clan."

Shame tempered Inuyasha's urge to chop his half-brother into snobby little pieces: he would've said the same thing not too long ago. "Yeah? Well, she wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for your stupid ass-kissers screwing everything up!" As Sesshoumaru began to interrupt, Inuyasha suddenly recalled exactly how Yoshio had been able to get ahold of the land, and grinned in savage anticipation. "It's not really their fault her dad got the land, though, is it? None of _them_ knocked up some human and then let a _hanyou_ kid get control of things, did they?"

His life very nearly ended in a split-second; only a quick, reflexive jerk of his wrist deflected Sesshoumaru's attempt to slash his throat open and forced him back with a credible counterattack. The rain was coming down in stinging sheets now, but Inuyasha could clearly see his half-brother's expression, and it was his turn to savor the reaction he'd gotten. "What's the matter, Sesshoumaru? Not so much fun when someone rubs _your_ mistakes in your face, is it?" He swiped some of the blood off his cheek with his free hand, conscious that he might have to dodge again any second. _Hell, just that look is worth it!_

"Who told you? One of those stinking bats?" This was another first: Sesshoumaru was speaking through clenched teeth, voice raw and almost shaking. He took a step towards Inuyasha from his new position, now less than ten feet away and at his brother's eye level. "No, those who knew all the details would rather have died than told _you_. Then who—" His eyes widened, then narrowed. "Shimoko! That—"

To Inuyasha's disappointment, Sesshoumaru abruptly stopped growling and spoke normally again after a barely discernable pause. "This Sesshoumaru did not come to discuss that. Higurashi Kagome, however, _is_ a matter of some concern."

Inuyasha started again as Kikyou's voice came to mind: _"If she becomes overwrought...a certain degree of preparation is necessary for the entire castle's safety."_

He shook his head, apprehension working its way through the satisfaction of having openly pissed his brother off. _No way. Nuking spiders is one thing, but..._ "Look, she's not gonna do anything, okay? Just leave her the hell alone. She's gonna have a hard enough time with her old man and that damn wolf bugging her once I'm gone."

Sesshoumaru stared at him for so long that he half lowered Tetsusaiga, then raised it threateningly. Thunder rumbled again. _Does it wait for me to do that, or what_? "I don't care what you wanna think about humans—" He wasn't sure why, but he suddenly had no desire to bring Rin back up. "—but I'll say it again. Don't bother giving her any shit. I'm sure you'll have fun kicking everyone out whenever the worm finally sells this place off, and then she'll have to try to figure out what to do with 'em..." Inuyasha cut himself off with an involuntary growl, knuckles going white on the sword's hilt. "That is, if you don't break your promise and just butcher everyone."

There was no response; Sesshoumaru had evidently found out that, at the curse's end, the castle and its inhabitants would _not_ disappear or be slaughtered by their master, respectively—not surprising, given his alliance with Kouga and the wolf's tendency to let things slip.

Inuyasha planted his feet more firmly in the wet ground, rubbing his poison-stung cheek again and renewing his grip on Tetsusaiga as Sesshoumaru stood motionless. He usually knew better than to take his half-brother's statue impression as encouragement, but... "Her family's a big enough pain in the ass. You might know, you might not." He was probably talking too much, but he actually had what seemed to be Sesshoumaru's whole attention for once, and he wasn't going to waste time choosing his words carefully. "My point is, I know you hate me, and I don't give a shit. Just don't screw with her 'cause she got involved here. It's not like you'd get anything out of it anyway."

"Your manners are poor as ever." The corners of Sesshoumaru's mouth might've twitched; Inuyasha couldn't be sure if the drops hammering his face had an illusory effect. "If you want something from this Sesshoumaru, threats will get you nowhere."

Appropriately foul words flitted through Inuyasha's brain, dancing out of his reach as he tried to settle upon which to use, and then trotting merrily away when he realized what Sesshoumaru might be hinting at and went weak-kneed. _He's gonna—_ Inuyasha bristled. _What, he wants me to beg!_ No, he hadn't said that, only... _Fuck_. Begging or not, the very concept of being forced to ask Sesshoumaru nicely for anything made him want to throw up—preferably on Sesshoumaru.

If it was for anyone, anything less, he would've recommended his brother do a number of unpleasant things with himself, including but not limited to the use of his own claws, excrement, and something else disgusting he couldn't think of. But...

Sheathing Tetsusaiga and forcing his arms to relax took more effort than any battle he'd ever fought; only the thought of those back at the castle kept him from thinking he would have preferred a few broken bones and major blood loss to this. It was for Kagome's sake, though, that he bent his head sharply and mumbled, "Please leave 'em alone and give her a break. She really fucking needs one."

_There. _An unpleasant taste lurked in the back of his mouth, and his heart was thudding so rapidly that he knew Sesshoumaru could hear it over the thunder. The demon also likely smelled his fear—not that Inuyasha was afraid he would have to ask again, or more nicely, the prospect of which suddenly no longer seemed life-threateningly abhorrent. Why was Sesshoumaru so interested in Kagome? The only times he'd ever taken a direct interest in Inuyasha was to hit him or have something taken away, and the first had already been ruled out…

Inuyasha's chest felt much colder than the thick, sullen atmosphere could account for. He risked a glance up. "You gonna answer me, or what?"

"You have less than a month of life left." Sesshoumaru took a step towards him. Another. "The curse did not account for the existence of a girl capable of winning your affections, did it?"

The hanyou shook his head urgently. "She hasn't—"

"And without asking any favors in return." The demon moved forward again. "A novelty in any age."

Cold vanished under a flood of heat, indignation and embarrassment jumbled up with a lot of other things he didn't care to examine. "How did you—"

The distance between them was alarmingly small now. "If she had, you would not have spoken on her behalf."

_I fucking _hate _it when he knows he's right. _"Are you gonna get to your point? Either you have one and want to screw with me instead of telling me anything, or you just came out here for the hell of it."

"This Sesshoumaru is aware that Shimoko comes here regularly…" A glimmer of anger resurfaced. "…though not that she was sharing information of that nature." His hands came up and rested loosely within his wide sleeves. Inuyasha thought of his haori, glancing involuntarily towards the castle. "That may make this somewhat easier, though, as you already know of Rin."

It wasn't the way he said it that grabbed Inuyasha's attention, nothing special about tone or inflection—it sounded more like Sesshoumaru had never heard of anyone by that name. Not surprising, but still bizarre. "Yeah," he said cautiously, ready to jump forward or back if his half-brother showed signs of turning psychotic again. "What about her?"

"Higurashi Kagome is descended from her fourth son, as are her siblings. This Sesshoumaru will ensure their physical and financial well-being, as promised." The demon nodded shortly and turned on his heel with a decisive squelch. "That is all."

"The hell it is! Wait a minute!" Inuyasha darted around and glared at him from a human's bad-breath distance. "You think you can just say that and leave?"

A blindingly quick right hook to Inuyasha's gut was his answer. "And why not?" That long-despised voice didn't help the pain that forced him halfway to his knees, or the discomfort of rain hammering his hunched back. "This Sesshoumaru has no further business here that Shimoko could not conduct herself. She will be angry enough that the news was already delivered."

Inuyasha tried to straighten up, then settled for being able to breathe, thinking as fast and hard as he could. Logically, he was aware that he had never been successful in talking with his half-brother; violence tended to supersede words, and Sesshoumaru's eloquence with both always guaranteed Inuyasha's defeat. Futhermore, he was still doing fairly well here, and it would be stupid to push it when he was only down one punch.

But—

He shook himself to loosen up the heart-clogging knowledge that Kagome was not only going to be safe from this particular threat, but taken care of, given about as big a respite as he could've hoped. The relief was almost as dizzying as his attempt to move forward, far too heady to let him care that he'd been tricked into being polite to _him_. Also aware that this could be the last time he and Sesshoumaru ever spoke, Inuyasha took as deep a breath as his tenderized diaphragm would allow and managed to speak through gritted teeth: "So Kagome's…okay? No killing her 'cause you think she and I…?"

Sesshoumaru dismissed the question and flicked water out of his bangs with a single gesture. "Has your hearing deteriorated? Whatever the girl chooses to let you do is _her_ business. Human fertility is no longer the problem that it once was – rather the opposite – and this Sesshoumaru will not break an oath based upon her lack of taste." His features darkened. "The wolf, however, must also be discouraged. Her pairing off with him would be as repugnant as with _you_, and he has no impending death to deter a permanent arrangement."

"I told you, she's not interested in that moron. And if you're gonna be helping her out, she has no reason not to tell him to fuck off." The hanyou couldn't help cheering up a little at the prospect. "So, what's gonna happen? They move in here, you buy 'em a house, or what?" His good mood vanished. "You didn't say what'd happen to the servants and…"

The rain had slowed to a looser, wider pace, so that Inuyasha could ignore the water on his ears. With that renewed concentration and a slight improvement in his middle, he was able to fully appreciate how still the demon stood, and for how long, nearly two whole minutes. Inuyasha had just resigned himself to watch for his exit when Sesshoumaru suddenly said, quite clearly, "Kagome would not let that happen."

Inuyasha blinked. Then he did it again. "Huh?"

"Certain traits fade in and out of families, but stubbornness tends to remain firmly in place. Five hundred years is far too short a time in which to breed it out of a bloodline, no matter how far-flung or thin it runs." The drops slowed to a gentle tapping as Inuyasha looked askance at his older brother. "Add to that an unfortunate tendency to place others far ahead of oneself, and one wonders how they survive long enough to pass them on, short as their lives may be."

"How'd you know? Have you been spying…on…oh." _Rin was the same way, eh? _Inuyasha shifted his weight, uncomfortable with the subject now that Sesshoumaru was being right again. But, instead of turning the conversation to Naraku like he probably should, he asked the first thing that came to mind: "So, was Rin a pain in the ass, too?"

Sesshoumaru's glare was instantly back, though not as fierce as Inuyasha would've expected, had he given the matter any forethought. "One is glad that _you _will not pass on the inability to think before you speak."

Inuyasha snorted as rudely as he could, groping for a suitable response. To his irritation, nothing came up that didn't contain profanity. Besides, curiosity was rearing its misshapen head again: what _had _Rin been like? _As if he'd ever tell me. _It took some effort not to blurt out another question, which would likely get him pummeled.

Sure enough, when Inuyasha remained silent, Sesshoumaru seemed to relax a little, just enough to continue. "The girl doesn't look like her, not with seven generations between them," the demon said in The Tone, "but the connection is definitely _there_, even without having triple-checked and repaired Jaken's records. Odd, how small details stand out in one's mind…"

"Like what?" Inuyasha reflexively shook his hair out as a stray drop found its way into his left ear. "Like…that thing she does with her eyes when she smiles?"

"Almost closing them, then opening them wide, you mean?" Something very, very weird passed between them for the barest second, a sort of companionable amusement that vanished as Sesshoumaru shook his head, unsmiling. "'Pain in the ass,' indeed. This Sesshoumaru has seen no evidence in eight hundred years to suggest anybenefit from contact with humans in any respect, particularly with regards to your kind."

That particular insult was too old and well-worn to do more than give Inuyasha a twinge; the sensation he got when he shrugged was much worse. "Well, yeah, they breed too fast, they can't move worth crap, their senses all suck, and they get old and die just when you've got 'em trained to stay out of your way. That's what you always pounded into me, right?"

No answer. Inuyasha carefully stretched his arms and folded them behind his head. "I'm not sayin' you're wrong. But you can probably see where I'd get kinda _curious_, hearing that you kept a human around and…" He shrugged. "None of my business." A careless glance at Sesshoumaru revealed nothing helpful. "I don't think she coulda been exactly like Kagome, though. Kagome's way too nosy, plus she keeps picking at your sore spots and tells you she's just tryin' to fix 'em. You'd kill her after an hour of it."

"It _is _none of your business." Sesshoumaru extended one slender hand and let the steady drizzle massage his palm. "Were your short lease on life to be taken into consideration, though, it might be said that you should be cautioned not to repeat your own or _my _mistake in your time left."

More silence passed; Inuyasha couldn't resist prompting him with, "Mistake? As in…?"

The demon's hand curled into a seemingly delicate fist, white flesh standing out against the morning-dull trees behind him, purple stripe tapering out of sight into the curves of his muscled arm. He scowled at it, though his annoyance was plainly not with any part of his body. "You attempted to help a human girl for mutual benefit, but let mistrust over come between you, and this is the result." His fingers moved slightly to indicate their surroundings. "You failed to learn that the only one capable of guarding your interests properly is yourself. Placing your faith in the priestess was an understandable but exceedingly stupid mistake."

_That _was more than Inuyasha was ready to hear. "Yeah? What's _your_ excuse?" he snarled, lowering his arms to a more defensive stance. "You think keeping the kid long enough for her to get attached to _you_ of all people and then dumping her did either of you much good? Not to mention—"

"That would be exactly the point, if you would bother to listen," Sesshoumaru cut in savagely. "Involving yourself with a creature as short-lived as a human guarantees inconvenience at best and—"

"Everyone getting screwed over?" Inuyasha hadn't meant to say that aloud, but out it slipped, and Sesshoumaru stiffened. "What, you thought she was just some kinda pet? Keep her while she's little 'n cute, then give her away and forget about her once she gets too big?" His brother was now tense as a full-drawn bowstring, but Inuyasha found himself just as angry, venting frustration he'd forgotten he'd ever pent up in the first place: "And you couldn't even leave it at that, you stupid bastard! _You! _Mr. 'Eww, the human Dad brought home is breathing my air'! Every time she came into the room, you looked at Dad like he'd asked you to be polite to a pile of fucking manure! Your daughter's a know-it-all, but she had a point once about her husband, not being attracted to humans till she fell for him—sound familiar?"

"As it does for you." The admission was quiet, but so heated that Inuyasha swallowed his denial and listened instead, ears laid back. "Her revival was experimental, at Tenseiga's behest, and there was no need to send her away as a child…no more trouble than a hungry stray, as you so eloquently put it." Sesshoumaru rested one hand on the sodden, feather-furred thing on his shoulder, then let it drop back to his side. "She requested little, kept Jaken busy, and provided distraction in days of very dull travel. There was no reason not to keep her, not till she was suddenly a woman and her chance of normal human life ruined."

The last word left a raw edge to the air, so that Inuyasha was almost afraid to breathe till Sesshoumaru exhaled sharply. "It was carelessness, some vague notion that her presence was more amusement than trouble. Then it became a sort of pity, the stray no longer able to feed itself, and no reason to cast it off."

"Pity, huh?" They had a silent staring match through the gradually strengthening rain. The hanyou broke it first, folding his arms again as curiosity nibbled at him with renewed urgency. "Hell if I want to know any details, but…shit, I'm almost dead, and I sure as hell won't tell anyone. I'm not gonna give you any crap about pity, either. I just haven't been able to figure it out…why'd you do it?"

Seconds scraped away at his nerves. He didn't dare look directly as Sesshoumaru, not till he realized he'd gone a whole minute without having to defend his life. _Fluffy, putting up with a question like that? _Inuyasha turned his head very slightly. _Huh. Never seen him look at the ground without me on it. _The uncomfortable novelty was too much: Inuyasha waved a hand nonchalantly and grumbled, "Fine, sorry, too nosy. When'd you meet Kagura?" _Oh, shit, that's right. _"We do kinda have to ask her about her psychotic—"

"Would _you _tell this Sesshoumaru anything about an intimate encounter?" The demon's golden eyes left the ground long enough to pierce his half-brother. "Be thankful that this much has been said at all."

_Delayed reaction. Pathetic. _Inuyasha eased Tetsusaiga a few inches back out of its sheath. "No, I wouldn't, 'cause I never _had _any, thanks, and I'm not, because you've got a perfect chance to explain why you turned into such a hypocritical asshole. At least you were a _principled _asshole when I knew you."

Yet again, Inuyasha was sure he'd have to defend himself any second; yet again, Sesshoumaru's only response was verbal. This time, though, it was so emotionless as to sound unnatural, even for him. "Rin approaching this Sesshoumaru privately to offer an apology for troubling her benefactor had nothing to do with principles, and everything to do with the reality caused by letting those principles slide even once. As said, it was a mistake to let her stay for too long, and _you _are in no position to make reparations when _you _forget yourself."

Again, denial tried to make its way out of Inuyasha's mouth, then gave up when the demon closed his eyes. Whether he was remembering something or trying to shut it out, Inuyasha wasn't sure. "Your emotional well-being is your own problem. Attempting to make yourself or _her _feel better about your mutual loss will make the separation infinitely worse, particularly for the girl, and this Sesshoumaru has no desire to pay for any more counseling sessions than necessary."

"And you think I'm just waiting to do the same thing and then skip off and let her clean up, right?" Inuyasha's fingers were white-knuckled on his sword's hilt, claws drawing blood on his wrist. "I'm _not _you, and—"

"Stop that," the demon said distastefully, indicating Tetsusaiga. "Kagome is not Rin, no, and you are most decidedly what you are, hence the warning. Rin maintained a sense of decorum…when she was old enough to sit still…and this Sesshoumaru was aware of her status from the very beginning. Neither of you have those advantages, particularly that of honesty. Considering your—"

"When did you meet Kagura?" That was another mental escapee, but one Inuyasha was glad for, as it effectively shut his brother up about why they were Doomed. Even if she was going to come against her husband's wishes, it couldn't hurt to grease the wheels a little. "Did you have the kid with you then?"

It took Sesshoumaru only a moment to change gears, falling back into his usual businesslike blandness—or was it? "This Sesshoumaru first left at Father's death in order to pursue rumors that the demon who mortally wounded him had been maneuvered by Naraku."

The air itself shuddered, more of a tangible phenomenon than visual. The demon glanced around appraisingly, then continued as if their surroundings hadn't done something fairly unsettling. "He it was who made several bids to secure as much power as he could in as little time, and did much damage with his brief ownership of the Shikon no Tama. Kagura was the first product of his experiments with his own body."

"So she does smell like him," Inuyasha muttered. _How does he stand it?_

Sesshoumaru scowled. "What was that?"

"Why'd you marry her?" He couldn't help wrinkling his nose a little. "Even if you don't spend that much time together, she has to be prrrrrrrgh!" His throat was working one second and crunched into the width of a rice ball the next, courtesy of his brother's fist.

"Few people have earned the right to speak that way about her, and you will _never _be one of them." Sesshoumaru dropped him back against the tree, advancing as Inuyasha choked on his attempts to breathe. "From the time of that creature's death to our agreement to marry, Kagura was informally regarded as heiress to the land her 'father' had terrorized, and every demon suffering delusions of grandeur within two hundred ri came running to challenge her and her siblings for the right to control his territory. She defeated or eluded every single one of her attackers and survived to seek out this Sesshoumaru and make her intentions clear."

"Don't…" It hurt like hell to talk, but there was no way Inuyasha would let that one slip. "…Rin?" he gasped.

"She had recently been married and was living at her new home," Sesshoumaru said matter-of-factly. "This Sesshoumaru's retainers had stopped nagging about her and started on the subject of marriage instead. As Kagura had no wish to rule, and the castle had just been discovered to be uninhabitable, our difficulties were resolved in one step."

"Like…hell." The demon raised his eyebrows at that. "Way…acted…Rin…"

_Dammit! _Inuyasha staggered to his feet and addressed Sesshoumaru at eye level, rasping, "Need to talk to Kagura…but what about Rin?"

He took a breath, trampling any reply by rushing ahead: "Raised her, paid to marry off, let your brat live—_loved _her, then got with _Naraku's _daughter? The hell?"

Sesshoumaru raised his eyebrows again, then favored him with a smugly unpleasant smile. "Can your brain not hold two thoughts straight? Rin's marriage was the solution to—"

"Fuck that!" Much as he'd always hated Sesshoumaru, at least Inuyasha had known what he was thinking. If all five hundreds years had done for him was to let him love a human girl himself and then abandon her for some strange, foul-smelling demon, Inuyasha rather bitterly thought he'd preferred his old stuck-up self. "You didn't wanna…get rid of her, even if she was human! You could've just bought Kagura's lands! Why…?"

The demon's elegant disdain vanished; in its place was such raw _something _that Inuyasha tried to recoil, thumping his head painfully on the trunk. "Rin was not _human _in that she received everything this Sesshoumaru had power to give, and _knew _it, and was grateful without debasing herself. Her last wish was to know if my life without her had been easier and happier than what she had seen of it. Even a human with the heart of a child knew better than to expect a demon in his prime not to look for his equal amongst his own kind, where a woman might live longer than fifty withered years, invite no ridicule for her existence, and have sons of the proper heritage. Her last thought was that this Sesshoumaru should be happy thus, you ignorant, misbegotten worm, _not _whether she had been displaced, and her opinion carried more weight than any _hundred _of you could ever imagine."

His eyes narrowed to slits, contempt radiant in every line of his face and body. "Even if the girl was to drag you out of the curse, you would fight it, and her, because you cannot let go of the idea that devotion is best proven by staying miserable at someone else's behest. If old Myouga is right, Kagome knows as much, but hasn't taken steps to convince you. Pity, though she'll no doubt recover with time."

Inuyasha did not answer, only partly because his lungs had stopped working. Someone was calling his name, an old woman's voice, instantly familiar.

"Who are you?" Sesshoumaru's senses had never catalogued Kaede as a child, much less her elderly state, and he watched her closely as she creaked a bow at them.

"Kaede, younger sister of Izayoi-sama's head priestess, honored Sesshoumaru-sama," the old priestess said warily, dipping her bare head. "I apologize greatly for my presumption, but it's quite important. Please forgive the interruption."

"What is that in your hand?" A rain-soaked but curiously stiff scrap of fabric was out of Kaede's loose grip and in Sesshoumaru's before she knew he had moved. He held it up so that the rust-stained yellow was in all three's line of sight. Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Human blood. But no smell of it, only that of—"

"Kagome!" Inuyasha snatched the scarf from his brother's unresisting hand and inspected it closely, heart hammering in rising panic. "What the…?"

Never slow on the uptake, Sesshoumaru thought for a moment, then frowned. "Did you say you needed to speak with Kagura about…Naraku? Why would—"

"Where'd you get this, old woman? Where?" Inuyasha grated, nearly tearing the fragile thing in his urgency to turn it to a side that smelled like the blood staining all but a tiny corner.

"It was left in the shrine when I entered this morning." She winced at a soft boom overhead. "If it is Kagome's, and the blood is not hers, then—"

"Shit!" Inuyasha disappeared from her startled sight around Sesshoumaru, who watched the hanyou set off towards the castle, his injuries momentarily forgotten.

"You." The demon raised his head to give the elderly priestess his customary once-over. "This Sesshoumaru requires information."

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kaede bobbed her head as politely as she could, unafraid but distinctly uncomfortable. This was going to be a _very _long and unpleasant day, and not just for her. _As long as Kagome is all right…_

Kagome was all right. …Well, she wasn't bleeding or anything. In that respect, things were all right. Otherwise, if one counted a conversation with her father after Kouga and a surprise Sesshoumaru visit cutting into a much-needed nap, things could've been a lot worse—assuming "things" was roughly equivalent to "disembowelment by fork."

Otherwise, things really sucked

"So, have you set a date yet?" Having been reassured that Souta was in one piece and having the time of his life, and with a tentative offer to visit firmly turned down, Yoshio was, unfortunately, comfortable enough to be himself.

Her temples felt ready to burst, and it wasn't even mid-morning. "That'd require an engagement, Dad. As there is none, I'll have to say no."

"Oh, really? These things do take time. …Say, honey, what's his favorite dish? Akemi's getting pretty handy in the kitchen. She managed not to burn the water last night."

Kagome forced a noise of polite amusement, having heard that one no less than six times already in as many minutes; Yoshio's high spirits were more than she was feeling up to dealing with. The haori was still prickly and too hot, but its presence had seemed to irritate Kouga, who was less persistent than usual and handed over the cell with minimal fanfare. That had been great, until it became evident that her good luck for the day had thus been sucked dry.

Yoshio chuckled. "Good one, eh? Oh, right! Are you two getting your own place once this is over, or are you staying with us?"

_Oh, to spontaneously combust right about now… _"Dad? We're _not engaged. _I am _not living with him. _Is there anything else you want to talk about, or should I call you later?" Better to let that one slip her mind than have Kouga pester her later with another call.

"That's my traditional little girl. …Nooo, I think that's about it. Call me if you need anything, okay, honey?"

"Sure, Dad. Love you, buh-bye." Kagome hung up and was immediately very glad for the phone's size, which rendered her attempt to strangle it unsuccessful.

"He seems like a nice guy," Kouga remarked, leaning in a bit too close to reclaim the little piece of plastic. Servants eyed them sideways as they passed the little courtyard in which Kagome had made the call. "So…" He paused. "How are you?"

"Good," she replied, also in English, with some relief. _A wise woman once said, "If he's learning, he's not hitting on you." _"And how are you?" She started towards the nearest passage to her room.

"They're at it again," a bath attendant whispered to three of her friends. It was common knowledge that Kouga-sama had been away for a while, using some strange device to learn a language no one had ever heard of, and that Kagome-sama was supposedly helping him.

"Ah, but she's rejected him," another said gravely, nodding to the haori. "In case his smell's not thoroughly on her enough already, I suppose?"

"Poor Kouga-sama. I really thought Kagome-sama would have better taste, too," the eldest murmured as they bowed past the English lesson.

"No, no," Kagome said loudly. The four each suddenly developed severe arthritis, shuffling along as slowly as possible, ears straining to catch any Japanese through the foreign words. "'Exhausted' means I _really _need to sleep, Kouga-kun. And I can do that without help, thank you."

Kouga's laughter covered the girls' nervous giggling, which was lucky for them, as it took Kagome at least three solid minutes to convince him that she really hadn't gotten any sleep, no, it was _not _anyone's fault, and she would see him later; by the time he turned and strode away, Kagome had completely forgotten about the servants' presence, and they had acquired all sorts of fresh material to pass onto their other friends later that day—and it wasn't even noon!

Then—_then _Kagome tried to get comfortable on her bed, folding the haori as neatly as it would fold and using it as a pillow, figuring that her scent was already all over it, so what harm was a few more hours? Inu-chan instantly roused herself from a lonely little nap, climbing onto the human girl and demanding recompense for her abandonment at the top of her diminuitive lungs.

Exasperated, Kagome nonetheless managed to occupy the kitten by grabbing a sneaker, dangling it between the headboard rails, and wedging it in place between rail and TV with a blanket. She settled down, then squirmed around to remove the pack of photos from her back pocket and shove them underneath some of the neglected items atop the TV. _There, consarn it. Wanna sleep now._

And sleep, she did…until a pinprick on her neck jolted her awake. "Owwww." A reflexive slap produced an odd little squeak, so that Kagome looked at her palm in alarm. "Myouga? Is that you?"

"Greetings, Kagome-sama," the flattened flea demon somehow managed to get out. He grunted, popping back into fullness a moment later. "How are you this fine day?"

"Tired. Where've you been?" She rubbed her eyes with her free hand, letting him jump to one shoulder.

"Oh, here and there, sampling the fine air of the grounds, indulging in the freedom of Kouga-sama's mobility in perfect safe…a_hem_. …How has Inuyasha-sama been?"

"Safety?" Her mind was too slow to work that one out, so she shrugged and let it go. "Inuyasha's about as dangerous as a newborn kitty. You might get pouted or cuted to death, but that's about it."

Myouga tried to chuckle, producing a dry little squeak instead. It sounded so much like the ones she'd given her father that Kagome raised an eyebrow at him. "What? You're afraid of the kugutsu? They have no reason to go after you. …I think."

"Er…" Myouga hopped lightly onto the haori. "You…have discovered more about the curse than you knew before, I hope? Some of the…physical limitations?"

"…Y'mean the boundaries?" _What the…? _"I already knew about those."

"No, er, the interpersonal ones." The flea leapt back onto her shoulder, dropping his tinny voice to an incomprehensible mutter. "That is…"

"Hmm?" Kagome sat up. A lightbulb suddenly clicked on in her head. "Oh! You mean…" The bulb went _pop _as her face warmed. "What, you mean about me and Inuyasha not…stuff? I thought it was Sesshoumaru who made that rule."

"How did you hear about that?" he demanded.

"Um…it's complicated." Kagome didn't like where this was going. _Crap, I don't even like where it is now._ "Anyway, what does _that_ have to do with anyone's safety? If Shimoko could tell I hadn't done anything with Kouga, her dad could probably figure out my life story with one sniff."

"Oh, nothing, Kagome-sama, nothing at all!" Myouga gave a few eye-crossing bounces to emphasize his fake cheerfulness. "I wasn't worried in the slightest that any rule might be broken and Inuyasha-sama lose himself and be forced to kill anyone, not a bit!"

"You _what_?" Kagome snatched him out of the air, nearly jamming the tiny body right up against her nose as the air thickened warningly. "Don't tell me _that's _a curse thing, too! Didn't anyone have anything better to do in your time than think of ways to make sure Inuyasha's life was total crap?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it that way," he wheezed, squirming his way into a position in which he could breathe freely. "I didn't think Inuyasha-sama would actually do such a thing, of course, and only monitored Kouga-sama out of concern that he might be plotting something with his pack. Luckily, their main objective is to consolidate their power after…these events, and nothing to do with Inuyasha-sama."

"…Uh huh." It was tempting to flatten him again, but Kagome knew nothing would come of it except momentary satisfaction and the loss of some potentially valuable information. "Did you 'monitor' the only guy here fast enough to get away from Inuyasha because you thought Inuyasha was the kind of guy who'd throw everyone's life away for a chance at getting busy at least once before he died, or just because he's a hanyou? That was probably why that rule got stuck in there, too, I bet." She frowned as it hit her that it had been rather considerate of Naraku to keep the "guests" in mind at all—but, then again, anything that implied fault on Inuyasha's part would be right up his alley. "God only knows what Sesshoumaru wanted, either. You'd think he'd leave him alone by this point."

"Now, now, Kagome-sama." Myouga smiled benignly, folding all his limbs at once. "Wouldn't life be dull if any of us were just left alone?"

Kagome twitched. "One, that's not what I meant, and you know it. Two, I would give my right arm and both kneecaps for some dullness right about now, thank you kindly, and three, _please _don't say that, or you'll jinx every—"

Inu-chan stopped gnawing on the shoe's toe and mewed urgently, looking for a shorter way to the floor than what was available; seconds later, footsteps crashed into earshot, and the shoji slammed open hard enough to crack wood and tear paper. "Kagome!"

"Bye, dullness," she replied, too bemused to think of anything else to say.

"What the fuck is _this_?" Panting slightly, Inuyasha stalked over to her and thrust something out for her inspection. "That's your…thing, isn't it? How the hell did it get blood all over it?"

"That's my scarf, Inuyasha, and I used it to help the servant who got hurt yesterday by that bat demon," she said after a moment's examination. Her smile of reassurance had no effect on his wild-eyed glare. "Did he drop it somewhere? I know it probably looks bad, and the smell can't be fun, but—"

"There _is _no scent except yours!" Inuyasha stabbed a finger at it, puncturing the fabric and scattering drops everywhere. "Not only does it not smell like anyone used it on a wound, Kaede didn't see anyone wearing it yesterday, and none of the servants ever said anything about it!"

Cold prickled along Kagome's scalp. "But…that's impossible, I did it myself. Besides, Kirara was there, and she would've known something was up if the guy was bleeding and there was—hey!" She stabbed a finger at Inuyasha triumphantly. "_You _said you could smell the guy's blood, and you even knew who he was. Taro's brother, right? Bring him in here, and we'll see whether I'm crazy or not."

Inuyasha stared at her, then nodded shortly to cover the awkward silence as she waited for an answer. "Fine." He whipped around and flung the shoji open with frightening speed. "Everyone out there who can hear me, come in here, _now._"

Five servants, one young man and four women, quietly filed into the room, hunched as far as was necessary to avoid Inuyasha's eyes. "Who knows where the woodcutter Taro is right now?"

"The one with a scar on his face," Kagome added, just in case more than one servant matched that fairly common description.

"My uncle is feeling ill and resting in our quarters, Kagome-sama," the tallest girl volunteered, obviously puzzled but glad for the chance to address her and not their dangerously quiet lord. "Shall I fetch him for you?"

"No, that's okay." Kagome tried to relax as Inuyasha frowned at her. She waved at him in dismissal, as if he couldn't hear her heart pounding and probably smell her growing fear. _This has to be some weird mistake. Maybe Naraku just got bored enough to duplicate and mess up my things without asking first? _"Your other uncle, his brother—how is he?"

A short pause confirmed her suspicions so effectively that she almost felt sick. "Well," the servant said haltingly, loathe to offend by a straight answer, "it's very difficult to say, Kagome-sama. I'm afraid it might be possible that—"

"Taro doesn't _have_ a brother, does he?"

The whispered reply of "Ah…n-no, Inuyasha-sama, I don't believe so" hit Kagome like a ton of feathers: a gentle fluttering of realization before dread settled over her in heavier and heavier waves, weighing her down with the knowledge that whatever she'd encountered yesterday had _not _been human.

Inuyasha dismissed them with a short gesture, not caring what kind of gossip the rush to get out of his presence would lead into. "Shit. Shit. _Shit._"

"I was careful," Kagome said without knowing why. "I had Kirara with me, and arrows. I was just going to the Tree, and—"

"The Tree?" Inuyasha scowled at her in disbelief. "Then what were you doing by the river?"

"There was a bat demon by the Tree, it was dead, and it was icky, so I changed my mind!" Her hands trembled as she unconsciously rubbed her neck. "Kirara checked the guy out for me and stayed there while I tied up his leg and everything!"

"I didn't kill any of the bats, Kagome." She stared at him in disbelief as he crouched by the bed, looking up at her intently. "None of 'em even got hurt that bad. One might've run into a servant after the fight, but Shiori came with seven demons guarding her and left with seven demons guarding her. None dead, and sure as hell not by the Tree."

"But I saw it when I looked by the Tree! And even I smelled blood on the guy, and the bat demon, and so did Kirara, or she wouldn't have let me near him!" Kagome protested.

"I know! I did, too, and when I said I knew who it was, I meant Taro, who _does _have a scar on his face." Inuyasha rocked back on his heels. "How did you know that, anyway? And what made you mention a brother?"

"The guy said he was Taro's brother, even told me about the scar…like he wanted to be sure I knew who he was talking about." _Meaning… _"So, he pretended to be someone else and basically _told_ me enough to make sure I could figure out he was lying? And how did he get real blood all over him to make you think he was Taro? This doesn't make any sense!"

Anger broke into her fearful daze, sharpening her mind enough to look back at Inuyasha and recognize gratefully that he was as confused and disturbed as she was, but didn't blame her for the incident…whatever it had been. "Okay, let's assume it was a certain sick bastard who has a tendency to mess with people. Why would _he _go to the trouble of planting a fake bat corpse _and _a fake hurt servant where I only had some chance of going, and do a good enough job that we only knew they were faked because he fed me enough details to figure it out? Where'd he get the blood? Where did he go?"

"Taro's sick, they said…" Inuyasha tapped a foot restlessly. "Better go check him out. And if it disappeared…are you sure it wasn't a servant you'd seen before?"

She shook her head emphatically. "No way. I'd know his face if I saw it again…but his voice was kind of familiar."

Inuyasha snorted. "I know the feeling." He could identify more servants by the backs or tops of their heads than their faces—a disadvantage of being bowed to so often. "Anything he said that mighta been important, like the scar thing?"

Kagome couldn't help grimacing. "No, the only other things he said were about Kikyou, or how I shouldn't trouble mys—"

"He _what_?" Inuyasha was instantly off the floor and in her personal space. "What did he say?"

"All about how great she was at kicking ass and healing people, nothing but compliments." She scooted back uneasily. "I think he was just trying to weird me out."

Inuyasha's brows drew together. "…You said you thought you knew his voice, right?"

She risked a staring match with him and was rewarded with a couple of missed heartbeats. _That can't be healthy. _"I…think so. Why?"

"You met a kugutsu face to face before, didn't you? Where's that mirror of Shimoko's?" Inuyasha ducked under the bed, located the velvet wrap and pulled it onto the bed. "If we use this bloody thing, d'you think I could see his face? It's yours, so that should work."

There was no time to argue, not with his urgency and her own curiosity hurrying her along; moments later found them crouching on the bed, hands resting on the mirror's edges, with Kagome dangling the scarf over its surface and Inu-chan peeking up at them from her hiding place under the bed. "Should we wait for the others?"

"No, no, go right ahead, Kagome-sama," Myouga's voice urged from somewhere in her hair, nearly scaring her into dropping the scarf.

"Come on, Kagome," Inuyasha urged her quietly, and she instantly complied.

Light leapt out at them, but slower, almost languidly, markedly different from their other uses. When the light finished oozing into the center and the picture cleared to reveal the blood-spattered forest floor, it wasn't from Kagome's perspective, either; they could see Kirara moving aside to let Kagome rush forward and drop to her knees, mouth moving to ask if he was all right.

"What the hell?" Inuyasha muttered. Kagome bit her lip.

"Remarkable," the flea commented from his new perch on the mirror's edge. "I thought the object was supposed to convey its owner's point of view?"

Neither paid attention to him, as the image was suddenly and rather insultingly focused on Kagome's lower anatomy. "I thought he had his eyes closed!" she hissed.

Inuyasha's only response was to growl softly. The image moved upward to her face when the fire-cat returned, but flicked back and forth from blatant staring to a properly averted gaze, depending upon whether Kirara was looking at him or not. His kimono was offered, a hand pressed obediently into his hip, and his ankle lifted to Kagome's shoulder. "I thought I was helping him, the stupid, ungrateful…"

She stopped dead. The hand that had been moving idly in the dirt as he talked had_ not_ been idle. Kagome now saw he had been writing, taking his time as his "rescuer" grew visibly more uncomfortable in order to make the words as clear as possible.

"'Easily taken'?" Inuyasha read aloud. "What's that supposed to…?"

The wrapped leg was gently removed from her shoulder, placed on the forest floor. Kagome clearly panicked when the perspective stood much higher off the ground, ostensibly keeping his eyes politely low, but using the excuse to peruse the girl's body at leisure, ending slightly below the neck. Then he glanced down and used the stick to demolish the words, and—

The mirror was yanked from beneath their hands. Kagome yelped as the dim light assaulted her eyelids and a thudding crash against the wall made her ears ring. "That fucking rat! It _was _him!" For the third time in less than twelve hours, Inuyasha was so angry that he could hardly stand to look at anything for fear he'd start chewing through it…until he noticed how white Kagome's face had gone. He swallowed hard, reminding himself that he had to calm down: his midsection was still pulp, for one, and Kagome probably didn't need to be told that she could've been killed at any second, just as the kugutsu had written. He plopped down next to her, took one of her hands, and ignored Myouga's grumbling from where he'd fallen between the thrown mirror and hard wall. "Look, Kagome, Kikyou told me earlier that he's…gone for today, or something. You don't have to worry about him for—"

"He's the one who has to worry." Kagome flung her head back, roaring behind them, "Kikyou!"

Her voice echoed faintly off the polished walls; Inuyasha edged away from her a little as it became apparent that her principal reaction was not humiliation or fear so much as pure rage. "I _know_ you're here, Kikyou! You knew he'd done this, didn't you? This was why you told me to go after him sooner and not later, right? Well, I'm convinced now! You get another point!"

Kikyou flickered into clarity in front of her. "As well you—"

"Don't give me that, Kikyou." Kagome rounded on her, dropping Inuyasha's hand to stand up closer to the priestess' spirit than she ever had. "I won't blame you for him manipulating, ogling and threatening me, but would it have been too much to know about it _before _everyone else saw it, too? He went to all this trouble for a reason, and if you knew about it, I'm guessing you could've dropped a couple clearer hints than 'Naraku is a jerk, so hurry up and find him, bye'! And what's this about him being gone for today? Have you talked to him? And if he's gone, then why not tell us where he is while we have the chance at it? Whose side_ are_ you on, anyway?"

"What would you do if you knew where he was?" Kikyou countered, tension trickling off her translucent form like smoke from a poorly covered lamp. "The Jewel may obey you and erase his existence, or it may turn dark enough in his power to give him greater power than ever before."

"You've asked that before, and your reasoning's gotten crappier," Kagome said flatly.

Inuyasha opened his mouth, shut it, and tried again after more deliberation. "Shut up a second, Kagome." Then he rushed ahead, aware that Kagome might just take her anger out on _him _now: "If he's really hiding someplace so secret that he couldn't be found all these years, Kikyou, it's probably someplace hard to get him out of, right?"

The priestess nodded. "I see you understand."

"But if it's so secure…" The hanyou looked down at the Inu-chan, who was arch-backed and stock-still against the bedpost, too afraid of the ghost to move under the bed. "If we do get him out of it, that means he probably couldn't find another place like it, right?"

Kikyou regarded him with silent disapproval. He shrugged helplessly. "And if we destroy or block it up somehow, he has to be out in the open where we can actually kill him like those damn kugutsu, right?" His eyes widened. "Wait a second! You _knew_ there was still a kugutsu out there, but you still told me it was safe! Why didn't you mention that?"

"Naraku is incapacitated for now—"

"But not the kugutsu! It could pop up and rip Kagome apart in the time it takes her to _blink_, Kikyou! You _can't _keep these things to yourself all the time!" Inuyasha was nearly tearing his hair out. "Why the hell didn't you say anything?"

Kikyou looked at him, then at Kagome, whose face was still white under faint sun lines, intent with anger and bewilderment. "If you would _think _as you did in using the mirror, you would know there was no need. I've given you plenty of information as it is, including that creature's existence. Reminders are not my responsibility."

"So you don't mind if I get killed and things go to hell?" Kagome didn't care what the curse thought of that one, or that Kikyou was right about that last part. "Or if Inuyasha gets killed? Don't you think he's gone through enough already?"

That struck a nonexistent nerve; whatever Kikyou had been prepared to share vanished in coldness bordering on outright hatred."All the same in the end, I'm sure. Good day."

The silence upon her departure might have lasted several minutes if Kagome hadn't reached down to pick Inu-chan up. The kitten immediately attempted to burrow between her arm and upper body. "Ow. No claws, kitty, okay?"

"Kagome?" One of Shippou's eyes peeped around the corner, then the other. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing. Just a lot of talking." Kagome exchanged a long glance with Inuyasha, clapping her hands softly to keep from upsetting the little cat. "Shippou-chan, if you would, get Miroku and Sango down here, and maybe Souta and Kohaku? We've got a little _more _talking to do." _And if I have to call the Jewel out, well, so be it. But first… _She picked up the haori and wrapped it around her bare shoulders again. _There. Stare at _this, _you freak. Hell if I'm going to sleep before we've stopped talking about it and actually _found _you!_

**A/N: **This is all going somewhere, I promise. For the record, fluff was preempted by plot, but that doesn't mean there's not quite a bit of it coming up.

Happy New Year's. May 2006 be infinitely less suckful than '05.


End file.
